Perturbation
by Lovinyou7
Summary: What happens when Nick is forced to remember the abuse he suffered when he was little? What happens when it becomes just too much to deal with?
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first fanfic so, please don't be too mean. I don't really know where I'm going with this, but I'm gonna give it a shot. I got the idea when I re-watched season 2 episode 3 "Overload" and was reminded Nick was molested at the age of 9 by his babysitter. Then I realized they never talked about it again. So here it is. This is set in the time after Langston, but before Russell. The characters are not mine, I own nothing.**

* * *

It was a cold day, and Nick was pouring himself some coffee from the break room when Sara joined him. "Do you really like that crap?" Sara said as she walked up.

"Nice to see you too, and for your information, I happen to find this coffee pretty good for the price" Nick replied with his slight southern accent.

Catherine walked in, interrupting their conversation. "Hey guys sorry to break this up, but we have a 4-19 on North B Avenue. I need you guys to take this one. Greg will meet you there, thanks." She said just before leaving, not giving them any time to respond.

* * *

Nick and Sara arrived at the crime scene before Greg. Brass was inside taking notes of the damages the killer had done. "So, what are we dealing with here?" Sara asked as she approached Brass.

"Single homicide. Victim was a 39-year-old male. Single gunshot wound to the chest. He lives alone, the neighbors called it in when they heard the gunshot."

Nick, still standing in the doorway, yelled to them, "Looks like the killer entered in the front door, there's tool marks here."

Just then, David arrived at the crime scene, and Nick quickly moved out of his way to allow him to reach the body. David knelt down beside the body to take out the wallet from his pocket. He handed the wallet to Sara, and she opened it to see the victim's drivers' license. She read the name aloud "Jason Bradshaw."

Nick was alarmed by the name, sounding a little too familiar to him, "Jason Bradshaw?" he repeated.

"Yeah, does that mean something to you?"

"I went to school with him, back in Texas. I had no idea he was livin here in Vegas."

"Y'know it might not be the same one, Nick."

"No, it's him. I know."

Then, Greg finally arrived at the scene and entered the house, a bit too peppy for the current mood. He soon realized this, and wanted to leave so, he offered to take the perimeter, and they agreed. Sara stayed in the entrance, kitchen, and living room with the victim, and Nick took the rest of the house.

Nick had made his way into Jason's bedroom. He found a journal lying on the bed, and he picked it up and started to read it. _I don't really want to write this, but the therapist said it would be good. What kind of a man am I to see a therapist and keep a journal? Whatever here it goes. It all started when I was about 8 or something. My babysitter, she was weird. I liked her at first, I thought she was cool. Then she started doing some things that I didn't like. She would touch… _Nick slammed the book shut. He couldn't take any more of it. He could feel the tears in his eyes, but he didn't dare cry them. He couldn't help but feel guilty for his parents recommending the babysitter to the Bradshaws. He felt as if it had been his fault his friend had been abused, and now maybe he even had something to do with his murder. So, what was he going to do now? He couldn't finish processing the room. He already made that decision. After a few deep breaths he finally picked up his phone to call Catherine. She answered after only a couple rings.

"Nicky, what's going on?"

"Hey, uh, Cath. I can't work this case"

"Why not? Is everything alright?" She could sense stress in his voice.

"No... I know the victim, and I don't want this case to be compromised because I am bias to the victim"

"I doubt that's gonna happen. I think you'll be fine. If I see that happening, I'll take you off, but I need you to stay on the case for now. Alright?"

"Okay."

He hung up the phone feeling worse than he did before. He wanted to scream into the phone "I can't do this! Don't you get it! Why are you making me do this?" but he kept his composure, and decided to leave the bedroom. He came out into the living room where Sara was and told her about the evidence he had collected in the other rooms. Then he confessed, "I can't take his room. It's too personal."

"That's alright. I'll take his room if you finish up here?"

"Yeah, okay. Thanks."

"No problem." She said with a slight smile as she walked to the back of the house.

Nick was relieved, and finished processing the living room. When Sara entered the bedroom she found the journal on the bed and skimmed over it before bagging it as evidence.

* * *

They returned to the lab, and filled Catherine in on the case. She could sense something was off with Nick as he told her about what he had found in the house, but she decided to ignore it. She didn't think any of it was her business, and she thought he would talk to her, if there was something he needed to tell her about.

Nick was struggling inside as he told about his friend's house. He tried as best as he could to hold it together on the outside, but on the inside he was dying. He was being met with flashbacks of the babysitter molesting him, and of the little bit of the journal he did read. He couldn't help but to think of when he told his parents she was a good babysitter. When Sara started to tell about the bedroom, he couldn't take it anymore he had to leave. He got up quickly hoping no one would stop him, but as he was leaving Greg asked him, "Where you going?"

Nick was overcome with so many different emotions that, he just stood there speechless. He was so grateful when Catherine answered for him "Take it easy on him Greg, this Jason guy was his friend."

"Thanks" Nick told Catherine before leaving the room.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"-its fine, Greg." Catherine interrupted.

* * *

Nick stood outside the crime lab trying to erase everything from his mind. He didn't want to think about it. All these years he had been able to push those memories to the back of his mind, never allowing himself to ever really think about it. Now, these memories played vividly in his mind, almost like it happen yesterday. It made him want to run. Run far away from this place, this city, this country. He didn't want to be anywhere near here. He didn't want to show that he had a weakness. He was supposed to be the strong one. What would the others think of him if they saw him completely break down? Eventually, they were all probably going to find out, but Nick made it his mission to make sure it wouldn't be anytime soon. He had done a great job of hiding it from everyone but Catherine. So, why wouldn't Catherine take him off the case? He kept asking himself this question. If this had been any other case, he thought, she would be asking him to recuse himself because of a conflict of interest. He didn't want to work the case so, he decided he would try to stay an arm's length, or further, if Catherine allowed it.

* * *

**So, do you like it? Is it worth continuing? No? Either way, please tell me. I'm open to suggestions, and tell me if there's anything I should do differently. This is my first fic so, please help me out.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay so, here's goes the second chapter. Updates probably won't always be this fast, I tend to go through phases. I'm picking up right where I left off. I own nothing.**

* * *

Nick stood outside. He was trying so desperately to clear his mind when, Catherine walked up to him, startling him a bit. "Sara showed me the journal she found in your friend's room." Nick was trying so hard not to cry, but he felt the tears coming. He looked away, not wanting to make eye contact with her. "Are you okay?" Catherine asked. Nick nodded, not even trying to speak. "You should take the night off, let everything catch up. I know it's a lot." He nodded again. She could see the pain he was in, and just wanted to make it go away so badly, and she rubbed his back to try to comfort him. "It's okay. But I'm not going to take you off the case. I've come to realize, that ignoring your problems isn't going to make them go away. You need to face this so it CAN go away."

"Catherine..."

"Go home, take the night off, and come back tomorrow, ready for what's coming."

Nick walked away angry at what his boss had to say about it. He knew one day wouldn't make a difference. All he could do now, was hope they solved the case overnight, and already have forgotten about it by his next shift.

* * *

He arrived at his house with a twelve pack in hand. He sat on his couch and turned on the TV, and opened the first beer. He had intended to drink as many as he needed to, in order to drown out the memories.

After a few beers he started to feel a little better. After a few more he had a vivid flashback. He got really angry at this and violently, screamed out in rage, and threw the empty bottle at the wall, shattering the bottle completely. That made him feel better so, he did it again, this time throwing it at the ground. He kicked the coffee table beside him, hurting his toe, and he decided not to do that again. He fell onto the couch, and drank another beer before passing out.

A few hours later there was a knock at the door that startled him awake. He was still very drunk, and opened the door violently. "What?" he asked Catherine, annoyed that she was there.

"I just wanted to make sure you were alright. I was worried about you."

"Don't worry about me, I'm fine"

"You hiding something in there?" She said as she noticed he wouldn't open the door all the way.

"No."

She smelled the beer on his breath, and noticed he was drunk. "You been drinking?"

"What makes you say that?"

"I can smell it, and you're clearly drunk. It doesn't take a CSI to figure that out."

"Okay, well, none of this is any of your business anyway, is it?"

"You kinda made it my business when you called me at the crime scene, remember?"

"Yeah, well, I'm asking you to leave now. Thanks for checking on me, but I'm fine." He slammed the door on Catherine. He walked back over to the coffee table and picked up another bottle and threw it at the wall. Then he drank another beer wanting to pass out again, and not wake up until the case was solved.

Catherine was outside the door when she heard the glass shatter. She just wanted to be with him, and hold him, and tell him everything was going to be okay. But, she knew it wouldn't be, at least not until he could face the facts, and really confront what happen. It happen so long ago, it was hard for Catherine to understand why it still affected him so much. The thing is, these things never truly go away. The images, and memories will always be there replaying in his mind until he gets help, and learns how to deal with all of it. Catherine was ready to help Nick through this, but she didn't want to push him too much.

She left his house, but her mind never truly did. She was thinking of him all day, hoping he would be alright. Also, hoping he wouldn't come into work reeking of beer, as he did when she came over.

Nick passed out shortly after Catherine had left. When he woke up, it was almost time for him to be at work. He didn't want to go, but he dragged himself off the couch, and into the shower.

* * *

Catherine, Sara, and Greg were already at the lab working on the case when, Nick came in late. "Sorry I'm late, my alarm didn't go off."

"No, its fine." Catherine said, "Have Sara fill you in, Greg and I are going to follow up on a lead."

Catherine and Greg left the lab, and Sara asked Nick, "How are you feeling today? Catherine said she sent you home sick yesterday. Felling better?"

Nick couldn't believe this. Catherine actually cared, she lied for him so he wouldn't have to tell them what was actually going on. "I'm... yeah, better."

"Good. So, I should probably fill you in."

"Just tell me what I need to know. Where are we now?"

"Well, Catherine and Greg went to go pick up an abusive babysitter Jason had when he was eight. I found a journal on his bed, and in it he said he spotted her here in Vegas so, they're going to search her place now. We don't know for sure, but we're thinking he came here to confront her of what she did, and something went horribly wrong."

* * *

When Catherine and Greg got back, the babysitter came with them. Nick saw his old babysitter, she is now almost fifty! He couldn't believe what he was seeing. He suddenly needed air, he felt as if someone was choking him, and he rushed outside. Sara didn't know what was going on, and she followed him out. "Nick!" she yelled as she chased after him.

When Nick noticed her following, he pretended like he was just going to his car.

* * *

Inside the interrogation room, the babysitter sat nervously waiting for them to come in. Catherine, Greg, and Brass were standing behind the mirror discussing their strategy on how to approach this suspect. Sara followed Nick in, and Catherine said she and Nick would stay back while the others talked to her. So, the others entered the interrogation room.

"Catherine, I really don't think I should be on this case."

"I think you need to face your fears. I'll be with you, the whole time. It's not like she can hurt you again."

"I'm not afraid of her."

"Than what are you?"

"I dunno."

"Nick, let me help you."

"I don't need help. I'm fine."

"You call that fine? You walked out when you saw her enter the station. You walked out when we were discussing the evidence. Then you went home, and got drunk off your ass. Nicky, you need help. Let me help you."

"I don't need help."

Catherine turned her attention to the interrogation being a bit frustrated with him being so uncooperative. Nick was forced to pay attention, having nowhere else to go. He looked at the girl's face. It looked the same. After all these years, after all this time he still remembered that face. He had only seen her that one time before, but he will never forget that one time. His skin started to crawl as he thought of it again. It all becoming too real, his eyes filled up with tears. Catherine noticed and squeezed his shoulder, hoping one day she would be able to help.

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**Do you like it? No? Please review. Also, what do you picture the babysitter looking like? What do you think her name should be? I want to know what you guys think.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's the third chapter! Thanks for the kind reviews! and just for the record I stayed up until 3 a.m. writing this so, sorry about any mistakes. I own nothing.**

* * *

After the interrogation, they all knew she murdered Jason Bradshaw, or had a hand in his murder. They didn't have enough evidence to prove it though. They had the journal. It was far from enough to get a conviction, but the way she reacted when Brass brought up certain subjects... her guilt was undeniable. She fidgeted and squirmed when she was being asked questions about when she used to babysit Jason as a kid. Finally, she asked for a lawyer, and they were forced to stop the interrogation until, her lawyer arrived. Brass walked out of the interrogation room, "Can anyone say 'guilty?'"

"It's written all over her face, I wish that were enough to send her to prison." Sara added in.

Catherine suggested, "Make up some evidence, and try to get her to confess."

"She's smart. She knows we have nothing on her." Greg said hopelessly.

"I say it's worth a shot. She belongs behind bars, and if we don't do anything about it now, there will be more victims. People like her don't just stop at one." Nick said

"People like her? You sound like you know her." Greg said.

"I just know Jason, and I don't think he did anything to deserve killin."

"Nobody deserves to be killed, Nick." Catherine said.

"She does." Nick said as he walked away. He knew he was in trouble.

Everyone was shocked by his remark, they didn't know how to respond to it. They were actually scared by it. They stood in silence for a while, but Catherine knew where he was coming from and followed him out. "Hey, Nicky, wait up!"

"What do you want?"

"What do you mean what do I want? Do you realize what you just said back there?"

"Yeah. And I meant it."

"I know what she did is unforgivable, but you can't just say things like that. You need to get your act together. Now everyone's going to be asking questions. They're going to wonder why I'm not suspending you."

"So, suspend me."

"No, I'm not going to do that, and you know why? Because I know that's exactly what you want! You want to go home, get drunk, and throw empty bottles at the wall! You can't drink your pain away Nicky! Can't you see I'm just trying to help you! I'm trying so damn hard to help, but you need to try to help yourself as well!"

"Well, you can stop trying. I already told you I don't need help." Nick said before walking away.

"Where are you going?!"

"Dunno!"

Catherine stood there in the hallway for a while before Sara and Greg joined her.

"What's up with Nick?" Sara asked.

"I don't know." Catherine lied. She didn't know why she continued to lie for him, but she did. Over and over again.

"Did you suspend him? You would've if it was me." Greg remarked.

"No, we're already short-handed and I can't afford to lose any of you." Catherine said as she walked away.

Greg asked Sara, "Are you buying any of this?"

"None."

"What are they hiding?"

Greg and Sara decided to conduct their own investigation, being sure to keep Catherine and Nick from knowing what they were doing.

* * *

It was after their shift that day, and Sara and Greg decided to go visit Nick at his house after, not seeing him at work for the rest of the night. They knocked at the door, and Nick didn't answer the door. He was trying to avoid all contact with people. They knocked again, and Nick answered the door thinking it might be important.

He hadn't had anything to drink yet, he hadn't eaten anything either. The bottles were still lying in his living room, half of them shattered. Greg had a fast-food bag in his hand. "We brought you some lunch. We know you've been having a tough time with the vic being your friend at all; so, we decided to try to cheer you up. Will this work?" he asked holding up the bag.

"Thanks, but I'm not hungry."

"Have you been eating Nick?" Sara asked.

"I'm eating just fine, not that it's any of your business."

"I'm sorry we care."

"If you care so much, than leave me the hell alone. Why is that so hard for everyone?"

"Why is it so hard for you to tell everyone what is going on?"

"There's nothing going on! I'm fine! Now leave me alone!" Nick says as he closes the door on them. He couldn't let them find out. If they found out, his life would be over. They would never look at him the same. They would see him as a victim, and that is not something he wanted to be known as. He didn't know how much longer he had until his secret came out, and everything exploded right in his face. He hoped it wouldn't be soon, and didn't know what he would do if the secret did get out. Catherine was already making a bigger deal out of it than he liked, and if everybody knew? He would never be able to breathe again without someone asking if he was alright. He contemplated if he should have a beer or not, then he remembered Catherine _you can't drink your pain away Nicky. _ "Then how the hell _does_ the pain go away?" he said out loud to himself. Deep down inside he knew Catherine was right, he knew he needed help, but he just couldn't bring himself to admit that yet. He thought he could handle it himself like he did with everything else.

He laid in his bed, and tried to fall asleep, but instead, tears started to roll down his face. He had been holding it in for so long, it felt good to let some of it go. He was glad no one was around to see him. He buried his face in his pillow, and let out a long scream. It made him feel better, and fell asleep shortly after.

* * *

The next day at work Nick was able to hide it a lot better after getting out all of his emotions. He had Sara and Greg convinced that, whatever was going on over the past few days, he had taken care of.

They had no new leads, and decided to confront the babysitter, Laura, with the evidence they had faked to try to get a confession out of her. Brass, Sara, and Greg entered the interrogation room while Nick and Catherine watched from the other side of the double-sided mirror.

"We found your DNA at the scene Jason Bradshaw was found dead at." Sara lied.

"That's impossible. I wasn't there. If you found my DNA at the scene, that means you planted it there because I wasn't there. I don't even know where he lives."

"I never said it was at his house."

Laura became silent for a moment, then whispered something to her lawyer. Her lawyer asked, "Are you charging my client? Because, it seems that you do not have the evidence you need, and now you're trying to make it up."

Catherine, on the other side of the mirror, asked Nick, "You think you'd be able to go in there with me next time?"

"I dunno, what if she recognizes me, or something?"

"Deny it. Tell her you don't know her, or you don't remember. You're the one interrogating her, not the other way around."

"I dunno, I just don't think it's a very good idea. I mean it's a big time conflict of interest."

"I'll be there with you, it's not like you'd be on your own. And you would be able to leave whenever you needed to."

"Catherine, I don't know if I'm ready to do this."

"Are you ever going to be? How many years has it been since the last time you saw her?"

"Cath, please... I'll think about it."

"That's all I ask."

Then Brass, Sara, and Greg joined Nick and Catherine on the other side of the mirror. "She didn't bite, and there's no way we can get a conviction without a confession." Brass said.

"Unless, we can get her for a different crime... Jason clearly describes in his journal that he was molested, right?" Catherine asked.

"Yeah, but the statute of limitations for molestation in Nevada is ten years." Sara argued.

"But not in Texas, the state where it actually happen."

"It would still be hard to get a conviction based on only the journal."

"But not if we could find another victim. Nick said it, people like her don't just stop at one." Greg added.

There it was. They were searching for another victim, without even knowing one was standing right there.

* * *

**Please review! I hope you guys like it! Either way I want to know.**


	4. Chapter 4

**I can't believe I'm already on chapter 4! Thank you to all who have been reading. Updates may get slower since I'm going to be a little busier now. Here it goes...**

* * *

"Nick, did you have any other friends who used Laura as a babysitter?" Sara asked.

"No, I don't know anyone else." Nick lied. He could tell by Catherine's look, that she was trying to tell him that, if he didn't say anything, she would walk. He didn't care, there was no way he was going to say something, not now. He couldn't even be in the same room as her, much less testify against her.

"Maybe we can get a list of children she babysat when she was little? We have the journal, do you think it'd be enough to get a court order?" Catherine asked.

"I don't know, but I'll try." Brass said before leaving.

"And Nick and I will talk to Laura?" Catherine said as she looked at Nick.

"Sure." Nick said. He felt like she put him on the spot. He didn't want to make Sara and Greg suspicious, so he just agreed with her. Then, Nick and Catherine entered the interrogation room.

"Hello, Laura, we just have a few more questions for you." Catherine said with no compassion in her voice.

"Do you remember all the kids you babysat when you were younger?" Nick asked acting like he didn't know her.

"Of course not. I do remember most, just not any of their names. There was even one that looked like you." She said looking at Nick.

This alarmed Nick, he suddenly felt like he wasn't ready for this, but if he left she would know it _was_ him. He remembered the night she came to babysit. His eyes started to water, and he tried to cover it with anger. "Tell me the kids' names!" Nick demanded.

"You were one of the kids. I remember now." She laughs to herself, "After all these years, great to see you again. How are you doing?"

"That wasn't me!"

"Of course it was. Why else would you be getting all worked up about it?"

"You molested my friend! Now what the hell did he do to deserve that!?"

"Wrong babysitter, honey, I've never touched a boy."

"To hell you didn't!" Nick stood up, and turned his back to the mirror hoping they hadn't already noticed the tears starting.

Laura's lawyer exclaimed, "Excuse me! You have no right to talk to my client like that!"

"It's okay." Laura said as she stood up, meeting Nick in the eye. "How would you know? Unless, I babysat you too. Your story is inconsistent."

"Was that a confession?"

"What are you gonna do? Tie me down? Make me get on my knees while you slap some cuffs on me?" She put a hand on his chest, causing Catherine to stand, but Nick quickly pushed her away. Laura exaggerated the push, and fell to the floor. That made the lawyer stand up.

"Don't touch me again!"

"Nick." Catherine said, standing next to him now. "Let's go. Come on."

"We're going to sue you for this!" The lawyer yelled out.

Sara and Greg stood shocked on the other side of the mirror. They were not sure what to make of all of it. They didn't understand what was going on, or what just happen.

Nick and Catherine exited the interrogation room, and stopped in the hallway.

Catherine said, "I'm proud of you Nick. You did great."

"Thanks Catherine."

"I'm fine if you want to take the rest of the night off, you've done enough for one day."

"Thank you."

Nick walked away, and Catherine walked over to Sara and Greg, behind the mirror.

"What just happen in there?" Sara asked. "Is there something you're not telling us? What's going on?"

"Can you meet me in my office in thirty? There's something I have to do."

* * *

Nick was at his house, and he decided to clean up a little. He cleaned up the shattered glass all around his apartment. It felt good at the time, but now he was really regretting throwing the bottles. In the time that it took him to clean up, he spent a lot of time thinking about Laura, and what he did earlier. He tortured himself thinking about others she may have abused, and how it all could've been prevented if he would've said something. He also thought about Greg and Sara, and hoped they didn't realize what was going on. He didn't think it was too obvious, but they were very smart CSIs.

* * *

At the lab Catherine sat in her office. Thirty minutes had already passed, and Sara and Greg entered.

"Hey, guys come in. Sit down."

They did as their boss told them to. They were unaware of what was going on. It was written all over Catherine's face that she had something to tell them. Greg asked, "What's going on Catherine?"

"I can keep lying about it, but I think you deserve to know."

"What is it?" Sara asked, concerned.

"You have to promise to not say anything, to anyone. Especially to Nick."

"You know we wouldn't do that to you." Greg said.

"Um okay... she was a last minute babysitter... Nick was nine... he told me ten years ago. I promised I wouldn't tell. I just thought you guys should know. He hasn't told anyone but me. He cannot find out that I told you."

"Your secret, or in this case, his secret is safe with us." Greg promised.

"Sara?"

"I don't know. Laura needs to pay for what she did. Sooner or later he's going to find out that we know. I think it's better he finds out sooner."

"Sara, you need to promise me. If Nick finds out, it will destroy him."

"I'm not so sure. Nick is a strong man, and I can't see him breaking down that easy."

"You'd be surprised at what I've seen."

"I don't at all, feel right about this. But, I do trust your judgment."

"Thank you." Catherine says as her phone goes off. She picks it up, and sees the message from Brass. "Judge wouldn't grant the court order. Nick is our only chance if we want a conviction."

Sara suggested, "Maybe you can talk to him, convince him to press charges. It's worth a shot, right?"

* * *

Nick sat in his house, his hair still wet from the shower. He just sat down when there was a knock at the door. He got up and answered the door, and let Catherine in.

"You actually let me in."

"Yeah, well I actually cleaned up this place for once." Nick said as he sat on the couch, and Catherine took a seat as well.

"How are you doing?"

"Good, I guess. Why are you here?"

"I need to talk to you about the case."

"Okay. Shoot."

"The judge refused to grant the court order. So, we have to release Laura tomorrow if we don't find any more victims. Unless... you..."

"I'm not a victim. I'm not pressing charges."

"You know, I don't need your consent to pursue the case. I can always tell everyone, including your parents, and get a court order for your testimony."

"No, Catherine, please." His eyes started tearing up. He sounded more desperate than he had planned. "Don't make me go through that. I can't do it."

"I won't force you, but you can't keep living like this. Look at yourself right now, at just the thought of it. I think you need to put his all behind you, and move on for the first time in your life."

"I will, but I don't need a conviction to do that."

"I disagree."

* * *

After Catherine left, he laid in his bed for hours, staring at the ceiling. Thinking. Thinking about everything. Everything that happened that day. He was thinking of Laura, and how he still remembered him after all these years. His mind would not let him rest.

He only got about two hours of sleep. He suddenly woke up breathing hard, sweating, and shaking. He couldn't catch his breath, he sat up, struggling for air. He knew exactly what was happening. He had a nightmare. He hadn't had those since a couple days after it first happen. He was finally able to catch his breath, but he couldn't go back to sleep, no matter how hard he tried.

* * *

**Please review! I hope you're enjoying this story as much as I am. If you are please let me know, if you're not, tell me what I should do differently.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Ch. 5 is mostly just to move things along, but it picks up at the end, I promise.**

* * *

It was the next night at work, and their time had run out to hold Laura, they had to let her go. They were all upset at this. They knew she would strike again, and all they could do is wait for the call, and hope she left more evidence behind than the previous time.

They were right, only about two hours after she was released they got a call. 4-19. They arrived at the crime scene only a few minutes later. David confirmed he had only been dead for about an hour, and emptied the contents from the victim's pockets.

Catherine took the contents from David. "Texas driver's license. His name was Eddie Almond, 36." She looked through the rest of his wallet, and found pictures of his family. She found a picture that made her heart drop. The picture had the victim with his wife, two daughters and one son. They looked so happy, and the kids were so young.

Then the phone started to ring in her hand. The name came up as Tammi Almond, and a picture of Eddie with his wife. "It's his wife." She said before answering. "Hello, Tammi?"

"Who is this?" She heard coming from the other end.

"My name is Catherine Willows, I'm with the Las Vegas Crime Lab."

"What?"

"Your husband, Eddie, was killed in his hotel room a couple hours ago. I'm so sorry for your loss." Catherine could just hear sobbing from the other end, then Tammi hung up, and so did Catherine.

They searched every inch of the hotel room, but it was a hotel room, and it had evidence of many different people being in there. It was hard to differentiate what was important from what the last hotel guest had left behind.

Nick finally broke the silence he had been in since he arrived at the scene. He asked, "You said he was from Texas, right?"

"Yeah, he has a Texas driver's license." Catherine told him.

"What if she... what if it's her? He could've been another one of the kids, he's the right age."

"Just because he's from Texas doesn't mean that-"

"-Yeah two hours after we released her? It does mean that."

* * *

Catherine walked into the DNA lab hoping Henry had the results for her. "You get the results from my crime scene yet?"

"Yes, well sort of. All the blood that was collected belongs to the victim, Eddie Almond. There were many other contributors at the scene, but only two have a record. Ben Thomas and Richard Alvarez, do those names mean anything to you?"

"No, are they supposed to?"

"No, I mean, it wouldn't be a bad thing if they did, but I just thought maybe you had an idea of who they are."

"Thanks Henry." Catherine said and waked out.

Greg walked into the trace lab hoping to get something that would lead them to the killer. Hodges was, as usual, in his own little world. He had music on, and was doing pathetic dance moves while he was processing the evidence. Greg just shook his head, and turned off the music. Hodges quickly turned around, he didn't know anyone was in his lab. "Oh, hey, didn't see you come in." Hodges said trying to act professional.

"Do you have the results ready?"

"Only if you ask nicely."

"Hodges can you give me the results? We don't have time for this." Greg said, frustrated.

"Ask nicely."

"Fine, I'll just have Catherine come over, and get the results herself. She's not going to be too happy with you."

"Fine, fine, I'll give you the results. It's lipstick."

"What is?"

"The red substance found on the victim's cheek."

"Thanks."

* * *

Tammi Almond along with her three kids came in the crime lab. The kids were unaware of what was going on, and Tammi couldn't stop crying. Nick and Sara saw her coming in, and went over to her. "Hello, are you Tammi Almond?" Nick asked.

"Yes, and these are my kids." Tammi said with a sweet southern drawl.

"Well I'm Nick Stokes, and this is Sara Sidle. We are the CSIs working your husband's case."

"Do you mind if I talk to you separately." Sara said meaning she didn't want the kids to hear.

"No, I don't mind." Tammi said. Then, Sara led her to Nick's office while Nick took the kids.

"I'm really sorry for your loss. I just have a few questions I need to ask you."

"May I see my husband after?"

"I don't know if that's a good idea."

"I need to, I just need to see him one more time."

"Okay. Now. Your husband, did he have any enemies?"

"No, not that I know of." She pauses for a moment to think. "Actually, there was this one girl, but it was a long time ago."

"Who is she?"

"I don't know her name, but she molested my husband when he was little. It took him a long time to tell me. He would sometimes jump or get scared when I touched him. I finally got it out of him what it was that was bothering him. His babysitter molested him, and he never told anyone but me. If I would've done something about it, he might still be alive."

This hit Sara like a ton of bricks. She knew what was going on with Nick, and she hasn't done anything about it. If Laura killed him, she would never forgive herself for keeping quiet, even though it was at her boss' request that she didn't do anything.

"Thank you for your help ma'am, I think you just solved the case."

"I did?"

"Let me have an officer take you to see your husband."

"Thank you."

* * *

After Sara brought Tammi to an officer to lead her to the morgue, she rushed over to find Catherine. She found Catherine in her office, and Catherine invited Sara in, and told her to take a seat. "What'd you get from the wife?"

"It's Laura. I think we need to do whatever it takes to get a conviction this time. Even if it means forcing Nick to press charges. I think if we don't, he's going to end up at one of the crime scenes. And the guilt we will feel... will be unbearable. She's going after the men she babysat as kids! Nick could be next!"

"I know, and if we don't find the evidence we need, he's going to have to suck it up." Catherine said.

* * *

Nick was still talking with the kids, when Catherine came in. "Nick."

"I'll be right back, okay?" He said to the kids, then stood up to talk to his boss.

"Nicky, we may need your testimony. It's her. She struck again, and she's not getting away this time."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying, if we don't get sufficient evidence; I'm going to arrest her for molestation... and you're the only person that can verify that." She said, choosing her words very carefully. She was very careful not to call him a victim, or say anything else that would make him upset.

Tammi came in, she had obviously been crying for a while. Her eyes were all red and puffy. She said to her kids, "Come on, let's go guys."

"Where's Daddy? When will he come back? I miss him." The little boy asked as they walked out.

Catherine looked at Nick, "You can't let him get away with this, and right now, it doesn't look like we're going to have the evidence."

"I don't expect you to understand. But, I can't, I'm sorry." Nick said as he walked out.

* * *

Nick had just got home later that day, when he heard a knock at the door. Sara was standing there. "Sara? What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to say, no matter what, we're here for you, Nick. We always will be."

"What did Catherine tell you?"

* * *

**I know it was a little boring in the beginning, and that's mostly why it took longer to write. I didn't want to go too much into detail with the case because, that's a completely different road, I didn't want to go all the way down. But I wanted to put Hodges and Henry in the story. So did you like how I covered the case, or do you want me to go into more detail in the next chapter? Please review. If you have anything to say, I'd love to hear it. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Ch. 6 wow! This chapter was easy and hard at the same time. It picks up right where I left off, at "What did Catherine tell you?"**

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"Nothing, I just thought you seemed a little down recently, and I don't know what it's about, but I want you to know, whatever it is, I'll always be here for you." Sara told Nick, partially telling the truth.

"Thank you. I don't need any help though."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. Thanks for stopping by."

"I'll see you at work tonight."

Nick closed the door. As much as he didn't want to believe it, he knew Catherine had told Sara. How could she do this to him? He trusted her, and she went behind his back. She was the only one he trusted, and now he didn't, he _couldn't_ trust her.

How long has Sara known? Did she know before he interrogated Laura? Did Catherine just tell her? Did Greg know too? Nick kept asking himself these questions over and over again, only not to be given an answer. He didn't know Catherine's reasoning for betraying him, and he knew whatever reason she would give him, wouldn't be good enough for him.

He decided to open a beer. His thoughts were killing him, and he didn't want to deal with all of this right now. He drank until he passed out. This time, he didn't break any bottles. He was just as mad as he was last time, if not more mad, but he managed to show just a little self-control. He passed out on his couch, and didn't wake up until five minutes before he was supposed to be at work. He couldn't go in, not now that Sara knew along with, who knows who else. He couldn't face it, and he picked up the phone to call Catherine.

"Hey Cath, I'm not feeling too well right now. I don't think I'm going to be able to make it in to work today. Sorry."

"It's okay. Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, it's fine. Just not feelin too hot, that's all.

"I hope you feel better Nicky." Catherine said before hanging up the phone. She was disappointed in him, but at the same time she understood he needed to take some time off. She announced to Sara and Greg, "Nick just called in sick. I guess we're working with three today." Her phone went off, and she looked at it. "Brass just picked up Ben Thomas and Richard Alvarez. He's bringing them in now."

They interrogated the suspects for hours, but neither were talking. They searched through both of their histories, but found no ties to Laura or either of the victims. Richard was a restaurant manager from southern California. He got in trouble with the law when he was younger, but he swore he had been making a better life for himself. He proved that with the restaurant.

Ben was a car salesman from North Dakota. They didn't know what it was about him, but they couldn't seem to trust him. He had gotten into trouble his whole life. He had a serious drug addiction, and many rehabs later, and he still wasn't completely clean.

It was a few minutes after their shift ended, and their final lead, and they had to let them go. They couldn't find any evidence against them besides the DNA in the hotel room they had both stayed in, within the last week.

It was about an hour later, and everyone was still at the lab. They weren't doing much. They for some reason thought, the longer they sat there the case would eventually be solved.

Catherine then got a call from Nick, she quickly picked it up hoping he had some good news for her. But instead she just heard, "Cath...Cath... I can't... I need..."

"Nicky, what's going on?"

"I... I can't..."

"Nick, talk to me. Where are you?" She said getting up and running out the door, to her car. Before she left she yelled to Sara or Greg to call for an ambulance at Nick's house.

"Home."

"You're at your house? I'll be right there. Can you tell me what's going on?"

"He... I..."

"Nick you need to keep talking." She paused for a moment to listen for him to say something. "Nick! Say something! Let me know you're okay!"

"I... I'm... I'm not."

"Okay, just hold on, I'm almost there." She recklessly pulled into his drive way, and ran in the front door that was already open. She found Nick lying on the floor of his living room, shot in the stomach.

"Cath... Cath... I..."

"It's okay. You're okay. It's going to be fine."

"He... he..."

"Who? Who is he?"

"Ben." Nick said just before passing out.

"Nick? Nick say something. Talk to me. No, no wake up Nick!"

She was in tears when the paramedics entered. They quickly got him into the ambulance, and Catherine got in the back with them. She watched Nick as he struggled for his life. She could tell he wasn't doing well, but the paramedics weren't telling her much. They were focused on keeping Nick alive.

It didn't take them very long to get to the hospital. When they got there they took Nick into immediate surgery. They couldn't waste any time. Catherine ran with him until he went to restricted area, and she was stopped. Tears were streaming down her face as she stood alone in the hospital.

Catherine was lead to the waiting room where she sat in the corner seat, curled up in a ball, covered her face and cried. She couldn't take the guilt. He said Ben had shot him, and he was right there in front of her an hour earlier. She kept thinking of what she could've done differently to stop this from happening. She blamed herself for this, and she would never forgive herself.

A few minutes later, Sara and Greg joined her in the waiting room. Before they came over Catherine was sure to wipe the tears, and sit up straight. "How is he?" Sara asked.

"I don't know. They haven't told me anything." Her voice was shakier than she had hoped.

Sara took note, and tried to comfort Catherine. "Nick is tough, he'll be alright."

"Yeah, Catherine, it'll be okay." Greg added.

They all stayed there for another hour, still having heard nothing. The silence was killing them. They hoped for the best. Every so often they would say something like, "No news is good news, right?" or, "It means he hasn't gotten worse, right?" or "Maybe the doctor is stitching him up right now, and he wants to talk to us himself." They said these things to comfort themselves, and each other while they were waiting for someone to give them news of any kind.

Two hours went by. Still no word. They felt like the doctors were keeping something from them. Greg walked up to the desk and asked one of the nurses, "Is there any word on Nick Stokes? We've been here for two hours, and we haven't heard anything yet."

"I'm sorry, I, I don't know, what's he here for?" The nurse asked.

"He was the gunshot victim. They took him in for surgery two hours ago, and we haven't heard anything yet."

"That's normal. I wouldn't worry too much. Sometimes the doctors don't like nurses running in and out of the operation room. I'll see if I can find out what's going on, but if we find out anything we'll be sure to let you know."

"Thank you." Greg said, and reported the news to Sara and Catherine.

When the nurse came back, she said there was still no word on Nick.

Three hours later. Still no word.

* * *

**Please let me know what you think! Suggestions are welcome. I love hearing from you guys so, please review, I want to hear from you more! I'm excited for the next chapter, I don't even know what's going to happen next!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Here's chapter seven! Just a reminder, the characters are not mine. I own nothing.**

* * *

Three hours twenty-seven minutes. They had sat waiting until a nurse came out to finally talk to them. She explained to them the extent of his injury, and told them he would most likely be okay. They were so relieved at this news, and asked when they could see him.

The nurse told them Nick wasn't awake yet, and they could visit him as soon as they got him all set up in the recovery room. But, only two people were allowed back at a time. Sara and Greg agreed that Catherine should go in first by herself while they waited in the waiting room.

In the time they spent waiting, Catherine gathered herself for just enough time to call Brass. "Hey, it's Catherine. I need you to pick up Ben Thomas for me."

"On what charge?"

"Attempted murder, and assault of a police officer. Thanks, bye." She hung up quickly, not wanting to explain.

It was fifteen minutes later when the nurse returned to take Catherine back to see Nick. When she got back to his room she saw Nick still sleeping. He looked awful, and Catherine took his hand, and held it until, her phone went off. It was Brass, and she picked it up. "What do you want?"

"The question is what do _you_ want? I have Ben Thomas, but you haven't specifically given me any information on what he's done."

"I really can't talk right now. I'll call you back. Just don't let him out of your sight!" Catherine said as she hung up the phone, and was able to resume back to Nick.

He started to open his eyes, and Catherine just waited. She didn't want him to wake up before he was ready to.

There were many nurses in the room, but none seemed to notice he had opened his eyes. He shut them before they noticed. The nurses were all talking, and he could hear them, but was too tired to do anything so, he went back to sleep. He woke up to the nurses asking him questions. He could hear them saying, "Are you in any pain?" Nick was too tired to answer so, he just shook his head, the numbing hadn't worn off yet so he wasn't in pain. He drifted off again not being able to stay awake. The next time, he woke up to nurses talking to him again. "Would you like a glass of water?" Nick shook his head, he wasn't at all thirsty. This time he forced himself to stay awake, and finally noticed Catherine sitting beside him.

"Hey Nicky."

"Hey." Nick said. His eyelids were very heavy, and he was having a hard time keeping them open.

"You can go back to sleep if you want. Don't let me keep you up."

"When can I go home?"

"Not for a couple of days. Do you remember what happen? You were shot. Your house is a crime scene."

"I know. I just want to go home."

"I'm sorry. Can you tell me what happen at your house?"

"Ben, the guy we were lookin at for the murders, he came over. He broke in. I heard him, and I went to see what was going on. I didn't have time to react, he shot me. Then he said..." Nicks eyes swelled up with tears as he repeated the words. "'Remember this is our little secret, and nobody else needs to know.' Those are the words Laura said repeatedly the entire time she "babysat" me."

Catherine swallowed hard, then said, "They are not getting away with this, not again."

Nick squeezed his eyes shut and lowered his head. The pain he was in was suddenly unbearable. The numbness hadn't completely worn off, but the pain was beyond that. He tried holding his breath hoping the stillness of his stomach would help ease the pain, and he let out a big breath, then gasped for more air.

"Nicky, what's going on? Nurse, I think something's wrong."

"Sir, can you tell me what's going on? Are you in pain?"

Nick nodded in too much pain to speak.

The nurse took his arm, and gave him a shot. Nick was soon relieved of most of the pain, and shortly after, he fell asleep.

Catherine finally called Brass back while Nick was asleep, and she told him everything that was going on. Dayshift was given the case no matter how much Catherine objected. They compromised by letting Brass still work the case.

So far, they hadn't found any evidence implicating Ben Thomas. But more importantly, they hadn't found anything connecting Ben to Laura, or Laura to any of the crime scenes. They knew Laura was behind all of this, but they had no way to prove it.

* * *

Back at the hospital, Nick woke up again to the nurse asking him, "Feeling better?"

Nick nodded.

"I know right now really isn't the best time, but I have to ask... are you ready to press charges on Laura?"

Nick squeezed his eyes shut. He knew the answer Catherine wanted to hear, and he knew the one he had to give her. He couldn't say it, he didn't want to disappoint her again. He finally brought himself to shake his head. Catherine shook her head as well, "Okay, but you may not have a choice this time. But don't worry about any of this now, just get better."

"How can you even say that? Of course I'm going to worry about it!"

Catherine stood up from the chair, "Nick, I'll talk to you later. Sara and Greg are outside waiting."

"Can you just give me fifteen minutes before they come back?"

"Of course." She says as she leaves the room.

He was now all alone, the nurses had all cleared out. It was relaxing to him, besides the pain coming from his stomach. It never fully went away even with all the medication. He started thinking about his conversation with Catherine. He had a painful flashback.

He was nine. Sitting in his room when Laura came over. He was a shy boy, and his parents had already left. Laura got closer, and Nick backed up, not trusting the stranger yet. She got closer and closer until he couldn't back up anymore. "Remember, this is our little secret, and nobody else needs to know."

He came out of the flashback sweaty, shaking, and tears streaming down his face. It had caused his heart rate to escalate, and a few nurses came rushing in to check on him. Nick was still catching his breath when the nurse asked him, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. Really, don't worry."

"You're not fine, you have shortness of breath, sweating, and a rapid heart rate."

"Levels are returning to normal." Another nurse said.

"Have you ever seen a psychiatrist? You're showing some signs of PTSD."

"No, I have no reason to, everything's good."

"Are you sure? I know what PTSD looks like, my brother had it."

"I don't have PTSD. Are you done?" Nick asked. The nurse walked out without saying a word. He never saw her again, for the remainder of the time he spent at the hospital.

A few minutes later Sara and Greg entered his room. "Hey, you feeling alright?" Sara asked before sitting down in the chair by his bed.

"I'm fine." Nick lied. He couldn't say anything more, he knew, and he couldn't stand this. He asked Sara, "Does Greg know too?"

"What?" Sara was confused, she thought she had covered it up well.

"Do I know what?" Greg asked honestly confused.

"Sara, I'd really appreciate me if you'd stop lyin to me about it. I know you know. Please just be honest with me."

"Catherine told us after you freaked out when Laura touched you. Nick..."

"Stop. I'm so sick and tired of Catherine treating me like I'm a victim. I didn't want y'all to know, because I don't want you guys to as well. I'm not weak."

"We know that. Remember when, well I was told it was you, found me in the desert? I couldn't even stand, I was passed out. I was helpless. You were the one who saved me. Not Grissom, not Catherine, not Warrick, it was you. You will never be seen as weak to me."

"Thanks Sara."

* * *

Brass was working the case back at the station. He was talking to Ben Thomas, but he knew there was no way he was getting a confession from him. Ben was aware of the evidence he had left behind. None.

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**Please review! **


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter eight! Doing a little time jump here, about a week later.**

* * *

Nick was finally released from the hospital. He was so glad to finally get out of that place, even though he couldn't go home, he was still glad to get away from there. Everyone at some point, had offered for Nick to stay at their place, but Nick objected. He would rather stay in a hotel. They allowed him to stay in a hotel, but not without someone there with him at all times. He really hated this, but with Laura still out there they couldn't take any chances.

They all brought him to the hotel together. Greg opened the door, and it was nothing fancy, just a small room. There was a coffee table, pull out couch, and a chair sectioned off what was the 'living room.' There was one king-sized bed, a TV, and a mini fridge for the bedroom. In the very back there was one sink, just outside the bathroom. "It's nice." Greg said when they saw the room.

Neither Catherine nor Greg stayed long. They were extremely tired and didn't want to stay and talk right now.

It was Sara who was assigned to be with him for the next three hours, and she was the first person he asked about the case. She couldn't tell him much, except Ben was in custody and they hadn't found how any of it tied to Laura except for the choice of victims. They knew she had something to do with it, but didn't have the evidence.

"Is Catherine going to make me testify against her?"

"I think so." Sara said with compassion in her voice. "She's probably going to ask you one last time if you're willing to cooperate, but if you say no... it won't matter. She was trying to get in contact with Dallas PD, make sure they were on board before bringing in Laura."

"I can't believe what she's gonna put me through, after I trusted her."

"She's only doing this for you. All of it, including the part where she told me and Greg, so you wouldn't have to." Nick had never thought of it that way, but it hardly made a difference. He was so wrapped up in his own pain he couldn't think about how she was actually trying to help him, even though it made everything feel worse when she tried. "She wants Laura to be sent to prison so you can put all this behind you."

"Now you're starting to sound like Catherine."

"Nick, I just want what's best for you, and if you think doing nothing about this is the best thing... I'm not going to agree, but I'll support you either way this all happens to work out."

"Thank you Sara. You don't know how long I've waited for someone to tell me that."

They sat and talked for the remainder of the time Sara was there. Not about anything important, just talking about something other than the case and Laura for a change. They were interrupted by a knock at the door. Sara answered the door, and Catherine stood in the doorway. "Hey Catherine. Come on in." Sara opened the door for her, then grabbed her belongings and started to head out. "Bye, I'll see you guys later. If there's anything you need, call me."

"Thanks Sara." Nick said just before she left.

Catherine wasted no time, "Nicky, I need to talk to you about pressing charges."

"Look Catherine, I know you want me to, but I just can't. I know she needs to pay for what she did, but I don't think it's worth it, to have my life put on trial."

"It's not up to you anymore. I talked to Dallas PD, and they've asked for us to arrest Laura, and send her to them. We can go to Texas together for the trial since the LVPD is working the case along with the Dallas PD."

"Great, so you get to watch while I tell the jury everything bad that has ever happen in my life because, you know the defense will bring it all up."

"I don't have to be in the court room with you if you don't want me to." She could see he needed some time to rest and be alone for a moment so, she locked herself in the bathroom for a little. It was the only separate room in the hotel.

Nick laid on the bed thinking of how he could prevent this from happening, but it seemed inevitable. He drifted off to sleep, with tears rolling down his face.

* * *

Brass had just picked up Laura, even though he didn't know hardly anything about the case. He knew she was being charged with molestation, but had no idea who the victim was. Eventually he would have to know, but they kept him out of the loop for as long as possible.

Sara and Greg were at the lab. Neither one of them could sleep, and they both decided to try to go to work instead. They didn't know what they were looking for, but they started to dig into Laura's past. They didn't find much, but they did find one thing that caught their eye. Greg found it, and called over to Sara, "Hey, check out what I just found. Laura had been accused of molestation of a ten-year-old boy. The case was dropped after the kid was in a car 'accident' right before the trial. Guess who the other driver was. Ben Thomas."

"That proves the connection right? Between Ben and Laura?" Sara asked.

"Possibly. Maybe it really was an accident, and that's when they met."

"And no one would suspect anything since they had nothing in common. They had no reason to be working together. No connections, except this one little incident which had been minimally investigated. We need to call Catherine."

They called Catherine, and she wanted Nick to come with her, but he wouldn't hear of it. He needed some time to be alone, and the lab was the last place he wanted to go. He knew if he went in he would be met with silent stares. No one would say anything, they would all just stare and wonder if he was okay. He wouldn't allow it. Catherine left him there at the hotel, after making him promise he would call if he needed anything.

Catherine went to the lab, and Sara and Greg were still filling her in on the new evidence they had found when, she got a call from Nick. "Hey Catherine, there isn't any more water, I'm just going to run to the store and get some."

"Do you even have a car?"

"Yeah, they brought it here because, my house is a crime scene, remember?"

"I don't know, I don't think... I can get you some water."

"No Cath, its fine. I can do this myself."

"You better be careful."

"Don't worry about me, I'm a grown ass man. I can take care of myself."

"Okay, call me when you get back. Bye." Catherine said, and then hung up. "Where were we?"

They explained the rest to her, and she called Brass and asked him to get a warrant to search Laura's house and computers. While Brass worked on getting the warrant, the rest of them went to go wait outside her house until they got the go-ahead.

Traffic was extremely slow trying to get there. They suspected there had been an accident, and they were right. It had just happened too. There was a single car completely smashed into a street lamp. Catherine looked at the car and thought, _that car looks a lot like Nick's, but it couldn't be. His is different._ But she still couldn't get over that thought._ What if it is him, and I did nothing to help him. _The first responders hadn't arrived yet, and Catherine felt this urge to help whoever was in that car even if it wasn't Nick. "Pull over."

"Right now?" Sara asked.

"Yes, pull over."

Sara did as she was told, and Catherine ran out of the car to see who was in that car. There were a few people around the car who pulled over once they saw it happen, and Catherine made her way to see the person in the car.

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**So, is it Nick? Please review!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Here's chapter nine! I hope you guys are enjoying this story!**

**.**

* * *

Catherine got to the car and looked in the window. She saw Nick in the driver's seat bleeding out everywhere. She knew the doors were locked, and she needed to get in the car. She found a large rock nearby, and smashed open his backseat passenger side window. She unlocked the car door, and climbed in his car into the backseat. From there she climbed in the front and sat on top of the center console. There wasn't much room since the entire front half of the car was caved in from the street lamp.

By now Sara and Greg had got out of the car, and were watching Catherine. They wanted so badly to climb in the car with her and help, but they knew it would only make things worse.

Nick was going in and out of consciousness. He was bleeding from the head and mouth, and also the stomach. His head was resting up against the steering wheel over the already flattened air bag that was now stained red. A mixture of blood and saliva was hanging from his open mouth.

Catherine knew he couldn't make it long if no one helped him, and she gently pushed his head back so, it was leaning on the back of the seat. She applied pressure to his head wound. This woke Nick up from his previously unconscious state. He let out a moan of pain as he felt the pressure on his open wound. "I'm sorry, Nicky." Catherine said, but she didn't ease up on the pressure. She saw blood spilling from his stomach completely soaking up his white shirt. She kept one hand on his head for pressure, and with the other she lifted up his shirt to assess the trauma.

The wound from the bullet had re-opened, and grew. She knew he couldn't live more than a few minutes with a wound like this unattended to. He needed serious medical attention, and stat! She tried to figure out a way to get Nick out of the car, but the driver side door was mangled beyond hope. She thought of a plan, and knocked on the window and motioned for Greg to come in the car. "What do you need?" Greg asked, and popped his head in the door.

"I'm gonna try to lean the seat back, I need you to make sure the seat goes back smoothly, and apply some pressure to his wound. He's already lost a lot of blood."

Greg followed the commands attentively. Catherine reached over, and first she moved his seat all the way back, then she found the lever to lean the seat back. "You ready Greg?"

"Whenever you are."

Catherine released the seat, and Greg slowly brought it all the way down, and Catherine let go of the lever. "Let's get him out of here."

By now the first responders were on the scene, and they had talked to Sara, and she promised they had it under control. So, they waited for Catherine and Greg to pull Nick out of the car.

"You get his shoulders, I'll try to get his feet once I can." Catherine told Greg. Greg pulled Nick by the shoulders, locking his arms underneath Nick's underarms, and Nick cried out in pain, again coming out of his unconscious state. "Nicky, we're getting you out of here. You're alright." She knew he was confused when he woke up, and tried the best she could to comfort him. She lifted his feet once Greg had dragged him out far enough so, she was able reach his feet. They carried him out of his car, and onto the stretcher trying to be as gentle as possible.

Once the paramedics got to him, they started asking a lot of questions, but he didn't respond. Catherine spoke for him, and told them all they needed to know. She rode along in the back of the ambulance with them while Sara and Greg followed. Greg's hands were covered in Nick's blood so, he let Sara drive.

In the ambulance, the paramedics were doing all they could to try to stabilize him before they arrived at the hospital. Nick kept slipping in and out of consciousness. He never was able to talk in the little time he spent awake. They would try to ask him questions, but he would just pass out again. He never could say awake long enough to even nod or shake his head. By the time they got to the hospital he had passed out and regained consciousness seven times. They wheeled him on the stretcher into the hospital, and Catherine was soon forced to leave his side.

Catherine made her way into the waiting room, where Sara and Greg were.

"How's it looking?" Greg asked.

"Not good. He's very unstable, he keeps coming in and out of consciousness. He's had a rough week. I knew I shouldn't have left him by himself."

"This isn't your fault." Sara said compassionately. "Do we know what happen? Did someone tamper with his car or something?"

Catherine looked down "I don't- we don't know. There hasn't been much time for anyone to get a chance to look at it."

"I was just wondering if Nick told you."

"No."

* * *

The nurses again kept them out of the loop as they were waiting for him. This time more than the last.

It was three hours later when the nurse came out to talk to them. He was already awake, and the nurse led the three of them to his room. This nurse wasn't as strict on the two person at a time rule, she could care less, as long as the patient was okay with it. Nick was still really tired when they entered the room he wasn't in the mood for company, and he let them know.

"Hey, how are you feeling Nicky?" Catherine asked.

"Not good, but you already knew that."

"Nicky, you need to get it together. I know all this has been incredibly hard on you, but we're trying to help you."

"I don't need help! All I want is to be alone, and that's the only thing you're not giving me!"

"Can we have a minute?" Sara asked.

"Sure." Catherine said, and she walked out with Greg.

"What happen? How did you smash your car into that street lamp?" Sara asked when they left.

Nick was caught off guard, he was not expecting her to ask that yet. "Well, uh, I was drivin to the store. I saw this car drive up beside me, he kept getting closer to my side of the road. It kept moving closer, I tried to get out of the way, but it was like he was _tryin_ to drive me off the road. I looked in the car, and I saw Ben. He came at me, and I tried to swerve out of the way, and ran the car into the lamp post."

"You saw Ben? Ben Thomas?"

"Yeah."

"That's not possible, Ben Thomas is in jail. He's been there since the day he shot you."

"No, I saw him. I know what I saw. Check and make sure he didn't pull a Nate Haskell on us."

Sara made a few calls to make sure Ben hadn't escaped. She hung up the phone and reported the news back to Nick. "He's been there this whole time, there's no way he could've escaped. It wasn't him."

"I know it was. I saw him!"

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**Please review! I love hearing from all of you!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter ten! Updates are going to get a lot slower now that I'm working on more than one story, sorry.**

**.**

* * *

Sara left Nick's room, and told the others what he said about Ben. They said they would see what the witnesses said.

The witnesses all had different stories. One said it looked like he deliberately ran into the pole. Another said he kept drifting to the right and eventually caught the lamp. There was another witness who said it looked like he was having car trouble. It all happen so fast, none of them could remember exactly. None of the witnesses said they saw a car drive him off the road. Except Nick, he swore there was a car, and Ben was driving it.

Sara came and told Nick that Ben driving that car wasn't a possibility. She asked him if maybe he was hallucinating. Nick denied it. He would not back down from what he said he saw. They had no evidence proving there was another car involved, the last hope, was maybe someone tampered with the car.

* * *

Greg and Catherine took a look at Nick's damaged car. They searched it up and down, inside and out several times. They couldn't find anything wrong with it. His car was in perfect working condition, besides the damages from the lamp post. They knew this meant Nick drove his car into the lamp without any help.

They didn't know what this meant for Nick, they thought it had something to do with the shooting, and the trial coming closer. They thought this was part of PTSD or something, and they made him talk to a therapist.

Catherine came into his hospital room, and sat by his bed. "How you feeling?"

"I heard you saved my life."

"Kinda."

"Why?"

"Because, I didn't want to lose you. I wasn't gonna let you die! And I'd hope you'd do the same if it was me."

"Cath, you know I'd choose your life over mine in a heartbeat."

There was a long silence. Catherine then broke it by saying, "we know there wasn't another car, and if you still truly believe you saw one, you need to see a therapist."

"Cath, I know what I saw, I'm not crazy. Please don't make me see a therapist. Catherine I know I saw him."

"I'm only doing this because I care, and I can only hope that you will understand."

"I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive you for what you're about to put me through."

"Because I'm making you see a therapist? Grow up!"

"No, with Laura too, and Ben. I can't do it!"

"Yes you can, I believe in you, Nicky."

"Glad to know somebody does, 'cause I sure as hell don't."

"It gets better, trust me." Catherine said before she left. She had to go join the rest of her team, searching Laura's house.

* * *

Catherine joined Nick, Sara, and Greg in searching Laura's house. They took her laptop, and video camera, but other than that, they didn't find anything else that could possibly help them.

Once they got back to the lab, Archie started looking into the computer, and tried to find anything that would be helpful. He was looking through her e-mails, and called Greg in to look at what he had found. There was a lot of deleted e-mails between Laura and Ben. He showed them all to Greg. They were all talking about what they were going to do next, who they were going to target. According to the e-mails, there were two other victims. One in Texas, and the other in Arizona. The cases were apparently never solved, and they were never caught. In their last messages, they were talking about getting away together, and moving to another state. They wanted to get out quick because, they thought the LVPD was onto them. They made it their last mission in Las Vegas to kill Nick, but their plan blew up when, Ben shot him in the stomach to make him suffer, but he ended up surviving, and the cops caught him before they left town. Laura wouldn't leave without him, it said that in the previous messages. He wanted her to leave before his last kill, but she refused, and it got the both of them caught.

Greg read through every single e-mail they sent to each other. His eyes were burning by the end, but he read them all. He reported the news to Catherine and Sara, and they were able to use it in court to be able to prove Laura was an accomplice. They never doubted she was, they just couldn't find the evidence. Now they had all the evidence they needed for a conviction. When Sara found out about his new evidence, she asked Catherine to consider not making Nick testify. But, Catherine was very adamant about this. She really wanted him to testify.

* * *

Ben's trial date was getting closer and closer. This was giving Nick more and more anxiety. He was not looking forward to this, he didn't know what the defense would bring up, and he was freaking himself out by thinking about it.

It was time for him to finally return home from the hospital, and he really got to go home this time. Sara, Greg, and Catherine had spent a lot of time cleaning up his place, and replacing anything that had been damaged. They walked Nick up to his house, and saw his face when he entered the clean place. He was surprised at how well they had made his house look. It took a little of the stress off, that the upcoming trials had put on. He enjoyed their company when they weren't talking about work or the trial. They tried to stay off that subject.

All three of them stayed over that entire day. They were sleeping for some of it, but they didn't want Nick to be alone. Things didn't seem to go too well every time they left him.

* * *

The next night, everyone headed off to work, and Nick went with them too. It was weird, he hadn't been in for so long, he realized he actually missed the place. He didn't know anything about the cases they were now working, but they would sent him to go pick up the results from Hodges or Henry because, that always seemed to be an event that they didn't have the time or patience to do.

Greg sent Nick to go pick up some trace results from Hodges. So, Nick walked into Hodges' lab for the first time in weeks. Hodges saw him walk in, and just stared at Nick. "What?" Nick asked. He was annoyed with Hodges staring at him. Hodges didn't respond, he just kept staring. "Hodges, what is it? Do you have the results on Greg's case?"

"Hello Hodges, I'm so glad to see my favorite lab tech again, it's been too long. Why, hello Nick, nice to see you too after thirty days!"

"It hasn't been that long."

"Oh yes it has, if not longer."

"Can I just get the results?"

"The results were, water, soybeans, wheat, salt, sugar, sodium benzoate, and citric acid."

"Will you just give me the results?"

"I just did. If you want the paper, you have to tell me what the mystery substance is... you're usually very good at this, Nick. What's gotten into you?"

"Just gimme the paper, and nobody gets hurt." Hodges hung his head, and handed the paper over to Nick. "Soy sauce."

Nick walked out of Hodges' lab extremely irritated. He regretted coming back to work after talking to Hodges. Nick delivered the results back to Greg, and then went into the break room to maybe get away from people for a few seconds. He laid down on the couch, and doze off to sleep. He hadn't slept that well in months, and they all knew he wasn't getting a lot of sleep so, no one disturbed him. He felt safe in the lab for some reason. It has always been his second home, and now he felt more comfortable at the lab than at his own house.

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**I felt like I tried to drag this chapter on a bit, and not to mention I wrote it at midnight. It will pick up more in the next chapter. Please review, and check out my new story, it's a CSI/SVU crossover!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Here's chapter eleven! Sorry it took so long for the update.**

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It was about nine hours later when Nick finally woke up. It was daytime now, he could tell because dayshift was there in the lab. He sat up, and looked around and saw Catherine sitting there in the break room. "What are you still doing here?" Nick asked, barely keeping his eyes open.

"I didn't want to abandon you, I'm your ride home."

"You didn't need to wait, I could've found a ride."

"Just let me take you home."

Nick allowed Catherine to take him home, and thanked her when they got to his house. He walked in his house, alone for the first time since the shooting. It didn't affect him, although it was a little weird to be alone after all this time. He was glad, he felt free, not like anybody was watching his every move just to tell him to be careful. He was so tired of people, he just wanted to be alone forever.

He had just sat down on his couch when, his phone rang. He got up, and answered it. "Stokes." It was the DA's office, they wanted to schedule a date to prep him for the trial. They knew he hadn't gone back to work yet, and wanted to schedule for as soon as possible. They scheduled for late that day. Nick didn't like this but he didn't really have a choice, he had no excuse to not go.

Nick had a lot of time to be in his house and do nothing, it gave him a lot of time to think.

* * *

It was later that day, and the DA was in his office waiting for Nick to come. He was two minutes late. _He must be running late. _Ten minutes. _There must be a lot of traffic. _Fifteen minutes. _He should be getting here soon. _Twenty minutes. _Did he forget? _Thirty minutes went by before he started to think Nick wasn't coming, he called his house, but nobody picked up. _Well, maybe he's on his way, give him five more minutes. _Five minutes later, Nick still wasn't there, and he called the lab to check to see if he had stopped by work.

He hadn't. The lab receptionist asked Sara, who had been there working overtime like always, if she had seen or talked to Nick. Sara told her she hadn't, but she would stop by his place to make sure everything was alright. The receptionist informed the DA of what Sara told her, and they both hung up.

* * *

Sara arrived at Nick's house ten minutes later. She knocked on the door, but there was no answer. She waited about a minute before she let herself in with the key he had given her, when she helped repair his house after the shooting. "Nick!? Are you here?" She called out, then entered the living room and saw Nick sleeping on the couch. She went over to him, and tried to wake him. "Nick, wake up." He didn't move, Sara knew something was wrong, she called 911. "Something is wrong, I don't know what, but we need paramedics." She gave them the address, and her name and everything they needed to know as quickly as possible. Then, hung up and turned her attention back to Nick. "Nick, can you hear me, Nick?" She took his pulse, and he had one, which was good news. Then she checked his breathing, he wasn't. "Nick! No, come on!" She started to perform CPR, and he wasn't responding, then the paramedics arrived, and Sara had to open the door for them. She led them to Nick on the couch, and they put him on the stretcher, and took him to the ambulance. Sara rode in the back as they speed off to the hospital.

They arrived at the hospital with Nick breathing again, but still not awake. They rushed Nick into the emergency room, and Sara went to the waiting room. She didn't call anyone, she didn't know why. It only took them about a half hour until she was able to talk to Nick.

"Hey, how are you doing?"

"Okay, I guess. What happen?"

"I was thinking you might be able to tell me."

"I don't know, I was eating my regular sandwich I always make, then the next thing I know it I'm here. What happen?"

"You weren't answering your phone, I came by to check and make sure you were alright. You don't remember anything? What time did you start to eat your sandwich?"

"Uhh, it was just before I went to the DA's to prep for the trial, so about four. Is somebody coming after me?"

"We don't know. I have to call Catherine, and we can investigate this."

"You haven't called her?"

"No."

"Can I just go home, and we can forget this ever happen?"

"What? No. Don't you want to know who's trying to hurt you?"

"Does it really matter? Nobody believed me last time, y'all just thought I was crazy."

"We don't think you're crazy, we just couldn't find any evidence to support your story."

"And this time is going to be different?"

"If you just ignore this, we're going to end up finding your body at a crime scene."

"Would that be so bad?"

"Nick!"

"We all have to die eventually. Some just earlier than others."

"I'm calling Catherine."

"You said it yourself. When it's your day, it's your day, you know. I'm not afraid."

Sara walked out of the room and called Catherine, and she and Greg were at the hospital almost immediately. They talked to Nick for a while, then they left to investigate his house after Nick begged them to leave him alone.

* * *

They were at his house, and found the sandwich Nick was eating, and also the water bottle he had with it. They took samples to the lab for processing. Then they searched through the rest of his house. They couldn't find anything that seemed unusual.

"With everything he's been dealing with, you'd think he'd be on some sort of medication. I know I would be." Greg said looking for pill bottles.

"He refuses to see a psychiatrist. I know he needs to see one, and believe me I've tried to get him to." Catherine said.

* * *

They took the samples back to the lab for processing. They found it wasn't the sandwich, but the water bottle that had been tampered with. There were traces of some heavy duty pharmaceuticals on the rim and cap of the bottle. It was a mixture of many different drugs that did not go well together.

Greg collected all the other water bottles in Nick's house, and found two other bottles with the same deadly mixture on it. They had a flashback to a case a long time ago with a similar situation where, the guy laced the water bottles in the store.

Sara was sent to talk to Nick. "Where did you buy your water bottles at?"

"I don't know. Wherever they were on sale, but I bought those a long time ago."

"How long ago?"

"Back when y'all let me go to the store by myself."

* * *

It was a dead end. They weren't going to find out where he got the bottles, and no other victims had turned up so, they had to assume Nick bought all the water bottles that were drugged. They still took finger prints, and DNA from the bottles, and sent them to the lab for processing. They were determined not to let this person get away with it this time.

* * *

Nick was released from the hospital the next day. They still hadn't figured out who had drugged him. The incident was at just the right time for the trial against Ben Thomas to be postponed. Now, Nick was going to have to go to Texas to testify against Laura first. It was coming up in just a few days.

They interrogated Ben, and the Texas PD interrogated Laura. They wanted to know who they hired to kill Nick, because without him, the prosecutor's case would be weak, and they might be able to get away with what they did. Especially Laura.

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**So, what do you think? It's a lot easier to write if I have suggestions so, if you have any I'd love to hear them!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Here you go, chapter twelve. Please enjoy!**

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They interrogated Ben for six hours straight, and they got nowhere. He claimed he had nothing to do with it. He insisted that he had no idea what they were talking about.

It was the same story with Laura. They both denied everything.

After a long night of interrogations, the CSI team started to think of other possibilities. Greg came up with a working theory. "What if the other person wasn't just hired? What if he's been working with them all along?"

"Who are you thinking, Greg?" Catherine asked.

"Richard Alvarez. His DNA was found along with Ben's. We've been assuming they hired this third person after they were both arrested, maybe he's been right here in front of us all along."

They considered this theory, and sent Brass to arrest Richard Alvarez, but he wasn't anywhere in Las Vegas. They were right in their assumption that he had gone back to his house in Southern California, and so they sent officers of the LAPD pick him up there, and interrogate Richard.

* * *

Morgan Brody walked into the interrogation room. "Richard Alvarez."

"What? What is this about? I didn't do anything."

"Have you been to Vegas recently?"

"Well yeah, a while ago. The cops there already questioned me and cleared me."

"Have you been there since then?"

"No, I been here, working at my restaurant, ask anybody."

"We will, we'll ask _everybody_."

"What do you want to know?"

"I want you to answer me honestly. Do you know Ben Thomas?"

"Who? No. I don't know who this Ben guy is. Honestly."

"How about Eddie Almond?"

"No."

"Really? Your DNA was found at his crime scene. Maybe you want to rethink your answer?"

"I'm sorry, I don't know who this man is."

"What about Nick Stokes? The man you tried to poison, and drove into a lamp post? You know him?"

Catherine had made the call to the LAPD, and she told them EVERYTHING about the case. She thought Nick would never meet these people, and wouldn't care if they knew. Besides, most of the LVPD knew by now, it wasn't any big secret. It didn't take too long after Sara and Greg were told until, Brass started to get the hint there was something more going on. He asked Nick, but he wouldn't say. Later on, Nick asked Catherine to tell Brass for him, and she did, she told him the whole story. Nick only wanted a limited amount of people to know about everything, and asked Catherine to keep it that way. She didn't know Morgan was taking extra notice to this case being that her dad works in Vegas. She also never expected her to transfer to the LVPD in the future.

"No, I already told the LVPD I don't know these people."

"What about Laura Alden? Do you know her?"

"Who?"

"Laura Alden. The girl who molested these guys when they were younger. Now, she's going after them again with your help! Except now, they're turning up dead! Did she hire you, or are you doing this on your own, without pay?"

"I got no clue what you're talking about."

Morgan left the interrogation room frustrated. After she left, she stopped by the restaurant to confirm Richard's alibi, and it checked out. He was at the restaurant during the time of most of the attacks.

* * *

Nick was staying at the lab while the others were at work. They wouldn't let him be alone at his house after what had happened the last few times he was alone. Nick hated this, but what didn't he hate? He hated everything ever since his friend was found dead in his own house. He was sitting in the break room when Hodges walked in. "Oh... Nick... hi... I thought you were... I mean I didn't think..."

"What is it Hodges?" Nick asked irritated.

"Um, okay, I wasn't going to say anything, but since you asked. There's this rumor going around, and um it's about you. When um... you were nine-"

Nick cut Hodges off, he didn't want to hear the rest, and couldn't stand the awkwardness. "-Yes, Hodges, it's true. Now can we agree to never talk about this again?"

"Yes sir, just one thing. Can I have your permission to confirm the rumor?"

"I really don't care, as long as nobody talks to me about it."

"Thank you, and I'm sorry about... it."

"Okay, bye Hodges." Nick said, and Hodges left the break room. Then, Nick left to go yell at whoever had told Hodges.

* * *

In LA Morgan was working the case, trying to build up evidence against Richard Alvarez, but he was looking more and more innocent the more she looked into it. There was no proof he had went back to Vegas since he left for the last time. She so badly wanted to help out her dad's coworkers, but it was hard if there was no evidence to be found.

She took a break for the rest of the day, and decided to look at the case again once she got some sleep.

* * *

It was the day before Nick and Catherine were supposed to fly to Texas for the trial. Nick begged to be alone, he said he needed some time to just think before the trial. They all agreed that it was probably a good idea, and wouldn't hurt as long as he had his phone, and gun on him at all times. As soon as they left his house, Nick drank a beer. He had another one. It was only eleven in the morning, but it didn't matter to him, he was trying to relax before the trial. He didn't care about anything after a few, and he left his gun in the kitchen because, it kept getting in his way when he was trying to lie down. He had drank almost all the beer he owned within an hour. He was glad to be alone again, it felt a lot better.

* * *

In LA, Morgan had been working this case, giving it her full effort even after the LVPD had given up, even if they claim they hadn't. She called her dad, and told him everything she didn't discover, but it was really awkward because she hadn't talked to him for so long. She doubted he was concentrating on the case she knew he was just glad to get a call from her, even if they had to talk about dead bodies and murder suspects. She knew she should call Catherine instead, and pretended she had somewhere to be, and ended the call with Ecklie.

After she hung up, she called Catherine and hoped they weren't sitting in the same room. They weren't. "Willows." Catherine answered her phone.

"Hey, it's Morgan Brody, LAPD."

"Hey, how's the case going over there?"

"Well, I've been looking into Richard Alvarez's past for the last few days, and I can't find anything. I interrogated him, I talked to everyone at his restaurant, even a few customers. He wasn't in Vegas, it's not him."

"Okay, well thanks for looking into it for us, and I'm sorry we wasted your time."

"Oh, no problem. Just one more thing... I may know who did it. It's just a theory, but I kind of doubt you looked too much into it."

"Well, what is it?" Catherine asked.

* * *

Catherine rushed to Nick's house as fast as she could. He was home alone, and she knew that wasn't good if Morgan's theory was correct.

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**Don't hate me. Your reviews really help with update speed so, please review!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Here's chapter thirteen! Wow I didn't think I'd write this much. Thank you to everyone who took the time to read, or review, or give suggestions I appreciate it more than you know.**

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Catherine pulled up to Nick's house. Her heart was racing, and hands were trembling. She had no idea what she was going to find when she entered. A thousand images filled her head. She blinked them all away. When she entered his house, he was going to be fine. Catherine kept telling herself. It was just a crazy theory that had no evidence to back it up.

But the theory made sense. It would put all of the pieces they had been searching for smoothly together.

Catherine ran up to the door, knocking first, but wasting no time in unlocking the door herself. She ran into his house. "Nick! Nicky! It's Catherine!" She yelled and she tried to hide the panic in her voice, but it was no use. She ran through his house until she reached the room he was in. The bathroom.

She saw him, and stared for just a moment not able to move as she brought her hand to her mouth.

He was sitting on the floor with blood everywhere. His back was rested up against the wall behind him for support, without it, he would've been lying on his back. There were two stab wounds in his stomach, and a knife laying in his right hand, that lay by his side. Tears, mixed with the blood that was left on his face from his hand, and sweat were streaming down his face, and all the way down his neck.

Catherine dropped to his side, unable to speak. Nick held up his left hand as a motion for her to stop, and she did. She was unsure of what Nick wanted, but she knew she didn't want to upset him even more. All she heard from Nick was a quiet, "I'm sorry." Then she saw it. He stabbed himself again in the stomach letting out a small scream of pain. Before Catherine could react he stabbed himself again.

_Morgan was right._

Catherine then, put one hand where the blade was aimed to hit next, and the other to try and grab the knife before he tried to strike himself again. Nick brought the blade down desperate to end this before she tried to save him, but he didn't feel pain this time.

This time it was Catherine who had let out the scream. Blood rushed from her forearm as he looked down and realized what he had done. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." The tears came at a more rapid pace now. He didn't want to hurt, but he did. He dropped the knife in fear that he would hurt her again.

Catherine quickly grabbed the knife, and placed it out of his reach. She pulled her arm close to her stomach, and pulled out her phone to make the 911 call. She informed the man on the other end of their situation, and hung up not able to speak another word about it to him.

The lump in her throat grew as she tried to speak. Tears spilled from her eyes as she saw all hope drain from Nick's. "Nicky..." Was all she could say, and even that she could barely get above a whisper. Catherine was more concerned with Nick, than her own injuries at the moment. He had four deep wounds where she only had one. She made her way to look at him but he pushed her away. "Don't help me, I'm fine."

Catherine swallowed hard. She knew he wasn't fine, and he needed her help in order to survive. He didn't want to survive, he wanted to die on his bathroom floor right then and there. But how was she supposed to save him when he had already given up? He wasn't willing to accept help, and wouldn't fight for his life. She knew she had to save him no matter how hard he fought her.

Nick closed his eyes. He wished he could slip into eternal darkness, never wake up. He wanted to die now more than ever. He didn't want to see the damage he caused on Catherine's arm, and he for sure didn't want to see the scar it would leave for years to come. He would be reminded of the pain he caused her, her scream, every time he looked at her arm, and would never be able to forgive himself for it.

Catherine ripped open his shirt with one solid movement popping all the buttons from his shirt. She was in an incredible amount of pain, but she ignored it as she set her mind on helping Nick.

When Nick felt her open his shirt, he knew she was trying to save him. His eyes popped open, and he became angry. He shoved Catherine away with all the strength he had left, sending her flying backwards. She knew it would be a fight, but she wouldn't, couldn't, let him die, not now, not like this. She managed to get back to her former position, and started to apply pressure to his wounds.

He was extremely weak, and didn't want to push her again, although he knew he could. Instead he tried to ask her to stop trying to help. "Cath, please, stop. I don't want to have to push you again." His voice was shaky and weak. "Please, I can't do this. I don't wanna keep fighting. Please Cath." He was begging, desperate.

Catherine tried to find her voice, and barely found one between sobs. "I-I can't let you go. I need you. P-Please don't give up."

Nick was shocked she said that after he had hurt her so badly. He brought his arms up, and Catherine prepared herself for him to push her again, but he didn't. Instead he wrapped his hands around the arm he injured, and tried as best as he could to apply pressure as weak as he was.

Catherine closed her eyes as tears streamed down her face, and let out a sigh of relief. She weakened as the pressure got stronger, but still managed to apply sufficient pressure to Nick's wounds until the paramedics took over.

Shortly after, the paramedics arrived to find both of them in a pool of their own blood sobbing, and applying pressure to each other's wounds. And they took Nick first. Catherine walked alongside him until they reached the ambulance, and she had to ride in a separate one. Catherine wanted to wait for Greg or Sara to arrive and take her to the hospital, but it was obvious she needed medical attention, and a few stitches. No one knew how far away Greg or Sara were, and they convinced her to ride in the ambulance to the hospital.

In the previous attempts, Nick had changed his mind about wanting to live the moment he saw someone cared, but this time was different. Nick hadn't changed his mind until, Catherine said she needed him. It was the exact reason he chose those ways to die. It was more difficult than putting his gun to his head, and pulling the trigger, but it gave him time to change his mind if he wanted to, but if he didn't, he could always fight against any help that came.

His stab wounds were deep, he was in surgery, and he was losing blood rapidly. He was in critical condition. He had changed his mind, he didn't want to die anymore... but did that matter?

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**Thanks for reading this far! This was a tough chapter to write, but I hope you enjoyed it. Please let me know what you think!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Here's chapter fourteen!**

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Only about a half hour after the paramedics arrived, Catherine was sitting in the hospital with a doctor stitching up her arm. She needed four stitches in the wound. They didn't numb it, but it didn't matter, Catherine had already gone numb to all feeling a while ago.

Sara and Greg arrived at the hospital shortly after they received the news. They sat in the waiting room for only a few minutes before a nurse told them they could talk to Catherine if they wanted. They entered Catherine's room as another nurse was about finished wrapping her arm. They were confused, they didn't know the entire story. All they heard was Catherine and Nick were in the hospital, and they headed there immediately. They had so many questions, and intended to get answers for all of them. Sara spoke first, almost immediately after they entered. "Cath, what happen?"

Catherine looked up without saying a word. They couldn't read her expression, and Sara asked a different question, "Who did it?"

Catherine looked down at her arm, "Nick." She said quietly.

"What? Catherine, what happen?" Sara asked, concerned.

"He was, trying to kill himself, and I stopped the blade with my arm." She explained as tears started to fall. She will never forget that image of him pulling the knife down into his own stomach. It was horrifying to watch, and hard to talk about.

"So, then where is he? How bad was his injuries?" Greg asked.

"He's in surgery. He has four deep stab wounds, all self-inflicted. I should've figured it out." Catherine felt guilty that Morgan was able to pick up on what was happening without even being there. She knew Nick, she should've picked up on the signs, he was showing the signs, but she had just assumed it was stress from the upcoming trial. The trial that would, once again, be postponed.

"Don't beat yourself up too much over it. None of us knew either." Greg told Catherine. They all felt guilty, but none of them blamed each other. So, they all blamed themselves.

They waited impatiently for updates on Nick's condition, and got them quite frequently. A tall brunette entered the room, and caught Greg's attention immediately. "Hello." Greg said to this lady who entered.

"You guys are with Nick Stokes, right?"

"Yes ma'am." Greg said.

"Please, call me Meridyth."

"Alright, Meridyth."

"Nick has lost a lot of blood, he's in critical condition. The doctors are doing all they can, but there's only so much they can do. He didn't hit any vital organs, which is a good thing, but he _has_ lost a lot of blood, and he did hit some organs. This can go either way right now, and when it goes, one way or the other, it'll go fast."

"Thank you." Greg said before the nurse walked out.

Catherine recalled what had happened an hour ago, "he wanted to die when I got there, I saw it in his eyes... but by the time the medics arrived, something changed. I know he wants to live."

They all sat in silence as they took everything in. They wished the nurse would come in, and tell them good news, but they had no such luck. A different nurse entered the room, and they all stared at her anxiously, but she wasn't there to give news about Nick, she needed to check on Catherine.

"Catherine, how are you feeling?"

"Sick, guilty, anxious, angry." Catherine spoke more like she was talking to a therapist than to a nurse.

"Your arm, how is your arm? Are you in any pain?" The nurse was only there to do her job, she didn't care about Catherine's other problems.

"No, not right now."

"Are you sure? You're not on any medication."

"I'm sure." Catherine was in immense pain. It was so strong it had gone numb, and she was no longer able to feel it.

The nurse walked out as the brunette nurse re-entered. "They got the bleeding stopped. It was a struggle, his heart started pumping irregularly, and they had to shock him a couple times. The last time it almost didn't restart, but once it did, it was regular again. He's getting better."

They all let out a sigh of relief at the good news. They were glad to hear it was getting better, and they hoped it would only get better from there on out, and it did. The nurse came in every so often to update them on the progress. Each time the nurse entered their hopes of him surviving were higher and higher. Until, finally the nurse said, "He's going to make it."

When he came out of surgery they all wanted to go see him, but the nurse wouldn't allow Catherine to go. "I'm sorry Ms. Willows, you're a patient right now."

Catherine was enraged at this. "I got stabbed in the arm! I wasn't paralyzed! I didn't get shot, I wasn't stabbed in the leg, hell I didn't even stub my toe! All I needed was a couple damn stitches on my arm! I have legs, I can walk to see my friend who almost killed himself! I think he is a little more important!" She said, and walked away with Sara and Greg before the nurse had time to react.

They entered Nick's room, and saw him lying on the bed still unconscious with an IV in his arm pumping the medication into his body. His heart rate and breathing were now steady, and he seemed calm. Nick slowly woke up, waking up and falling back to sleep for a half hour. Then, he finally fully woke up, and when he did, Catherine, Sara, and Greg were sitting in his room staring at him. He saw Sara first, and then closed his eyes. He knew by the look she was giving him that she knew what he tried to do. The nurse asked him if he was in any pain, and he shook his head. He was, but he didn't want any medication for it. The pain gave him a sense of reality, it reminded him that he was still alive. He re-opened his eyes to see Greg also there. He had expected one of them to be there, and the other with Catherine, he felt extremely guilty they were both with him. Then, he looked to his other side to see Catherine sitting next to him. She was still there for him even after all the pain he caused her. She was really pale, and her entire forearm was wrapped. His eyes filled with tears as he spoke to her. His voice was quiet and raspy, "Catherine."

"Hey Nicky, glad to see you're awake."

"Why are you here? After-" He couldn't finish the sentence.

"Because I care. I know you didn't mean it. You were angry, and you've been dealing with a lot recently. Nicky, I'm not going away if that's what you're asking."

The nurse entered the room looking for Catherine. "Ms. Willows, I need you to come back in your room."

"Okay, just gimme a minute."

The nurse left the room, and trusted Catherine would return to her room in a couple minutes.

Catherine was relieved the nurse left, and that Nick was awake, it brought her back to reality and out of her state of numbness. She finally realized all the pain she was in, and it made her feel sick to her stomach, she couldn't handle it, it was too much. Her face was drained of all color, and she grasped on to the chair in order to remain sitting.

Nick noticed something was wrong, and immediately felt guilty even though he didn't know what was going on. "Are you okay?" He asked. Wanting so badly to run over and help her.

"I'm fine." She was barely able to talk.

Greg looked over at Catherine, "Catherine, you don't look too good. Let me get a nurse."

"No, I just need to go back to my room." Catherine said shifting in her chair, trying to find the easiest way to stand.

"Let us help you." Sara said.

"I'm good." Catherine said as she stood up on her own. She felt lightheaded the minute she stood, and Sara and Greg stood on either side of her, and helped her remain standing, her legs were shaking as she tried to walk. Sara and Greg helped her all the way to her room. With every step they helped her, Catherine felt worse and worse, and so did Nick.

Nick squeezed his eyes shut, he couldn't stand to watch, thinking it was all his fault. It wasn't. Catherine hadn't taken any pain medication, and she was feeling it now, but Nick didn't know that.

When Catherine was back in her room, the nurse gave her pain medication, and then chewed her out for leaving and not listening to her. The pain eased rapidly, and Catherine was finally able to relax.

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**Thanks for reading! Please leave a review!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Here's the next chapter. I know the last chapter was more Catherine centered, but I'm bringing the attention back to Nick. Sorry it took so long for the update, I didn't get any reviews so, I really didn't have any motivation. And I've been spending a lot of time on my new story. If you're not into this story anymore, let me know, and I will try to end it soon.**

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Nick was released from the hospital a few days later. Catherine's arm was healing great, and Nick still didn't have much of an appetite. Sara, Greg, and Catherine took Nick back to his house. They were not going to let him be alone until, both trials were completely over with. Nick hated that, but he understood, he would react the same way if it was any of them who had tried to kill themselves.

In those few days in the hospital, he was forced to have counselling, and as much as Nick denied it, it had help tremendously. He had learned to accept help, and understand how others were only trying to help him, and weren't judging him. He had cared so much before about what others thought of him, and was so concerned about always being seen as tough and unbreakable, but now he knows that it's impossible to be unbreakable. Everyone has a breaking point, and he now has learned his team understands this, and realized they had all broke in front of him before. Sara, after being kidnapped by Natalie Davis took forever to fully recover; physically, and emotionally. Catherine, when her daughter was kidnapped in the same week her father was shot and killed. And Greg, when he was pulled out of his car, and beaten nearly to death. Nick had been there to help them all through it, and had not thought anything different of them. He finally realized this was no different. He was still the same Nick they had always known, and that would never change.

They all saw the changes in his attitude, and it relieved most of their worries, but they still weren't willing to take any chances. The trial was coming up quick, and they were all worried for him.

They arrived at Nick's house after Sara and Greg had cleaned it up. They had just walked in the door and, as if they were being watched, the phone rang. Greg was the first one in the door, and answered the phone. "Hello. Stokes residence, this is Sanders... uh, hold on." Greg lowered the phone. "Nick, it's the DA's office, they want to schedule an appointment to prep you for trial."

"Tell them, as soon as they're ready. I can be there."

"Are you sure, Nicky?" Catherine asked.

"Yeah. Don't worry, I'm fine."

Greg told the DA, and they scheduled him for later that day. Nick sat on the couch, and he thought about everything. The trial, the failed suicide attempts, the drinking, the night Laura babysat him, the night Ben shot him. Everything that lead him to where he was now.

* * *

The day seemed to go by too fast, he didn't want to talk to the DA. When the time came, he insisted on going in alone, everyone had offered to go with, but he wouldn't hear of it. He walked into the DA's office, alone and waited for his appointment time.

A man greeted him, and showed him to his office where he would prep him. Nick sat down, and they began immediately. "So, the DA who was given this case in Texas has asked me to go over a couple questions with you. Since she can't really speak with you before the trial, I'm the one that gets to do it. I am also the prosecuting attorney in the case against Ben Thomas."

"Okay. What do you need to ask?" Nick didn't want to waste any time.

"Mr. Stokes, you've been on the stand before, you know mostly what to expect. I only have a few questions, but please answer them honestly... How did you come to know Laura Alden?"

"She was a last minute babysitter, when I was nine."

"Was she like every other babysitter you had when you were little?"

"No."

"How was she different?"

Nick felt humiliated. He didn't want to tell the man about the abuse. He was supposed to be tough, and this man didn't know him, he didn't know him enough to judge him. Nick could tell the man was judging him, and he would see Nick as a weak, helpless victim.

"Mr. Stokes?"

"I'm sorry, I can't do this."

"You don't have a choice. Just answer the question."

"I can't."

"Why not? Did you lie about something?"

"No, that's the problem."

"If you have been telling the truth, then I don't see the problem. I've read the file, you're not telling me anything I don't already know."

"Then what do you need me here for!?"

"To prepare you for the questions you are going to be asked."

"Okay. Yes, she molested me! I was nine, and I didn't fight her off because I didn't know what was happenin! I never told my parents because, I was scared! I was nine years old and I was scared!" Nick yelled with tears forming in his eyes.

"I need you to stick to answering the question. How was Laura Alden different from the other babysitters?"

He took a deep breath, "When my parents left our house, she molested me."

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It was the day before Nick and Catherine were supposed to fly to Texas. He was extremely nervous, and Catherine sat next to him on the couch. "Nicky. Nicky, you gotta pull it together."

"I don't wanna do this."

"I know, but you gotta. You have to stand up for that little nine-year-old boy who couldn't. You couldn't back then, but now is your chance, your chance to make it right... or as right as it ever can be."

"I know, thanks Cath. I just feel like if I would have told my parents... it wouldn't've got this bad, you know. Not that I would _ever_ tell them..."

"We're going to be in Texas a day before the trial starts, and we're gonna have some extra time, so do you know what I think? I think you need to tell your parents... everything."

"No." Tears were threatening to spill over.

"Nicky, don't you think they deserve to know?"

"I know they do, but I can't disappoint them."

"You will not disappoint them, it wasn't your fault."

"You can't be there."

"I won't be."

Nick nodded and looked down, what he had just agreed to had not sunk in yet. Catherine was glad he agreed to talk to his parents, she thought this would take a lot of stress off.

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Catherine and Nick flew to Texas the next day, and as soon as they arrived they were met by two Dallas officers. One being a Special Victims Detective. She was about fifty with brown hair and eyes, about the same height as Nick, and thin. The other was a street cop. He was well built, around thirty with short dirty blonde hair, and hazel eyes. The woman spoke first. "Hello, I'm Sergeant Frazier, Dallas PD Special Victims. I'm the lead detective here in the case against Laura Alden. This is Officer Holt, one of our best." Sergeant Frazier and Officer Holt ushered Catherine and Nick to the patrol car that was waiting to take them to their hotel room.

Once they were in the room, they were left alone, and Catherine spoke first. "Nicky, let's go to your parents' house."

"Okay." He agreed, and Catherine was shocked. She had expected him to put up more of a fight.

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They arrived at Nick's parents' house about a half hour later. Nick stood on the doorstep with Catherine, she had agreed to wait down the street, once his parents opened the door. His parents didn't even know he was in town, and he hesitated before knocking at their door. There was no going back now.

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**Please review! I really want to have motivation to write more, and reviews help a lot with update speed so, if you want the next chapter soon, please review! And please check out my new story, Behind the Mask!**


	16. Chapter 16

**This chapter goes to vegas nivel 3, thanks for the suggestion! Here's chapter 16!**

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It seemed like it took a lifetime for his parents to come to the door. Nick was extremely nervous about telling them. His father finally answered. "Hey! Pancho!"

"Hey Cisco." Nick said as his dad gave him a welcoming hug.

"Hey, aren't you the woman I met before? You informed us when, my son had gone missing." He said noticing Catherine.

"Yes I was."

"Come in, come in."

"Oh, no I really have to go." Catherine said, and nodded at Nick, and he nodded back before she left.

Judge Stokes invited his son in, and Jillian was there in the kitchen, and greeted Nick with many hugs and kisses. They were so happy to finally see their son again. He partially listened as his parents talked about how their lives were going there, they were so happy. They didn't even think it was odd he randomly flew from Vegas, and stopped by. Nick hated to break up the happy mood so, he played along for a while, but then he turned serious. His father noticed the sudden serious look on Nick's face. "What's the matter, Pancho?"

"I need to talk to you guys." Nick said nervously.

"What is it?" His mother was now very concerned.

Nick took a deep breath, and sat on the couch with his father sitting on one side, and his mother joined him on the other. "Do you remember? When I was nine..." Nick said, then his voice failed him. His eyes were full of tears that would spill at any moment, and he started to shake as he recalled the events that had took place.

"What is it, Pancho? What's goin on?"

"T-that babysitter, L-Laura. You hired her at the last minute."

"No, I don't remember. It was really a long time ago."

"Never mind." Nick changed his mind, he didn't want to tell them, they didn't even remember her. They'd think he was crazy.

"No, tell us, what about her? What did she do?"

"S-she m-m-mo-molested me." Nick burst into tears. His father took him in a hug, and Nick cried in his arms.

"I'm so sorry. We never wanted to hurt you." Judge Stokes said, and looked over at his wife with teary eyes.

Jillian burst into tears as well, and hugged Nick as tight as she could, never wanting to leave him again. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Oh gosh what did I do? I'm so sorry."

"What exactly happened?" His father asked.

Once his mother had finally released him from her tight grip, he continued. "As soon as you guys left. I remember sittin in my room. Then, she came in. She kept gettin closer." He decided he would spare them all the details for now. "I remember sittin in my... my room. Starin at the door when she left. I was cryin. Waitin for you to show up."

"I'm so sorry. We should have never left you with her. We hardly even knew her!" His mother cried.

"Why are you here, Pancho? You didn't come all this way to tell us this did you?"

"No, no I didn't. We caught a case. We linked it all to Laura. She was goin after the people she babysat as children. We couldn't prove any of it. So, my supervisor, Catherine, she's forcin me to press charges, and take her to court."

"I'm glad. She must pay for what she's done." His father said.

"I was supposed to come a while ago, but I... the trial was postponed. Everythin just got so out of hand, it was all overwhelmin. I couldn't hardly breathe... I t-tried to k-kill myself." Nick cried again. He felt so ashamed admitting that to his parents, the people who would have done anything to keep him safe, and worried every day for his safety on the job. Never would they have expected to hear those words come from Nick. They cradled him in their arms, and tried to calm him.

"It's okay. I understand, that would be a lot for one person to handle." His mother said soothingly.

Nick looked down, "I'm sorry if I disappointed you."

"Never."

"We would _never_ be disappointed in you." Jillian said as she wrapped him in another hug. "I'm just glad you're okay."

"The team really helped me. They never gave up hope, even after I already had."

"Why did your team all know, before us?"

"It was a case we were workin a long time ago, I got caught up in it. I had to tell Catherine. She told the rest of the team when Laura became a suspect. I'm sorry."

They cried in each other's arms for the next few minutes. They all blamed themselves for what had happened, especially Jillian who had hired Laura to babysit. She didn't remember which babysitter it was, but Jillian was always the one to hire the sitters.

Nick wiped his tears, and his parents did the same. "I'm sorry. I should've told you right after it happened."

"At least you're making it right." His mother said. "I'm proud of you, son."

Nick lowered and shook his head. She couldn't possibly be proud of his lowest moment.

His mother nodded, "yes I am, you are so strong."

This completely broke Nick down. He always saw his mother as a strong woman, and very successful. To hear her say she was proud of him and that he was strong in a moment like that, meant everything to Nick. He never wanted to leave their side again, the way they loved him unconditionally was somewhat overwhelming, but amazing. He finally pulled himself together enough to speak. "The trial is tomorrow, if you guys want to come. I don't mind." He loved the support his parents gave him, and wanted them to be there when he testified.

"Of course we'll be there. We wouldn't miss it." His father said.

"Thank you, you have no idea how much that means." Nick said as his father took him in another hug, and Nick cried in his arms once again.

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**Please tell me what you think! I know this was a shorter chapter, but I wanted a special chapter just for this. So, please tell me if you liked it or not!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Sorry, this chapter took a little longer than I had hoped. I hope you like it! If there's any inaccuracies pertaining to the court, blame Law & Order. Here is the next chapter!**

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The trial was today, and Catherine and Nick were taken to the courthouse by Sergeant Frazier and Officer Holt. Almost as soon as they got to the courthouse, Catherine was called to testify. Nick waited outside, and his parents came shortly after Catherine left. "Hey, you came."

"We wouldn't miss it. We're glad you invited us." His mother said. And they exchanged hugs.

Inside the courtroom, Catherine took the stand, and the defense attorney stood from his seat. "Hello, CSI Willows. Now you said, Nick Stokes told you about the abuse, before this case was given to you?"

"Yes."

"But you still continued to allow him to work the case, even after he begged you to take him off?"

"It was a judgment call."

The prosecutor stood up. "Objection. Relevance?"

"Where are you goin with this?" The judge asked the defense.

"The day this so-called-victim, attacked my client in interrogation."

"I'll allow it, but get to the point."

"Thank you, your honor. Ms. Willows, you were there when Nick Stokes attacked my client. Were you not?"

"It wasn't like that."

"Answer the question."

"Yes I was there, but Nick-"

"So, you saw him push my client to the ground, when she did nothing to him?"

"Yes, but-"

"Thank you, nothin further." The defense attorney sat down.

The prosecutor stood. She was a short brunette, but she knew how to do her job. "CSI Willows, will you please tell us what really happen in the interrogation room?"

"The defendant stood face to face with CSI Stokes, she laid a hand on him, and he was already traumatized by her, he pushed her off. She exaggerated the push, and fell to the floor."

"Thank you."

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Outside the courtroom, Nick was talking to Catherine and his parents just before he took the stand. Catherine's phone rang. "Willows. Yeah, hold on." She handed the phone to Nick. "It's for you."

"Stokes."

"_Hey Nick, it's Sara, I'm here with Greg and Brass. We just wanted to wish you good luck before the trial."_

"Thanks."

"_Hey, don't worry about it, she's scum, the jury will see that." _Greg said.

"Yeah, I sure hope so."

"_I'm sure you'll be great. Make sure you call us when they reach a verdict." _Brass said.

"I will. Thanks guys. I have to go now. Bye." Nick said, and hung up the phone. They had just called him in. He stood up slowly, and walked into the courtroom, and his parents followed not too far behind him.

Nick walked up to the front while his parents sat in the peers. Nick was sworn in, and then the defense attorney stood. "I'm sorry for what you claimed happened, but I don't believe it was my client who did it."

"I know it was."

"How old were you?"

"I was nine."

"And you remember specifically, my client bein in your house?"

"Yes. I do."

"Why are we all just now hearin of this? Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't your parents just find out yesterday?"

"I'm good at hidin things."

"No, you're good at makin up stories when you have no evidence to get a conviction. You know what I think? I think you were upset, you didn't have the evidence to convict your one and only suspect so, you fabricated a story to get her convicted of _somethin_."

"That's not true."

"What is? You deceived a team of trained CSIs into thinkin someone was comin after you, attackin you, and for several weeks they believed you. You made it up to cover up your suicide attempts. Am I right?"

"It wasn't like that."

"Yes or no."

"Yes."

"And this is just the same. Withdrawn. Can you tell me about the time you got drunk, in public? You made a scene, and the cops on call had to detain you? Was that about my client too?"

"That has nothin to do with this."

"Just answer the question." The defense said.

Once the Defense was through with their questioning, the prosecutor stood. "Mr. Stokes. I'm sorry for what happened, and I'll try to make this as painless as possible for you. How do you know the defendant?"

"She babysat me when I was nine."

"Was she like every other babysitter you had before?"

"No, she m-molested me."

"Can you please tell us what happen?"

"My parents, they left the house, and it was just me and the defendant in the house..."

Nick's parents watched with teary eyes, and his father comforting his mother the entire time. They felt guilty as they heard everything in detail. Every so often, Nick would make eye contact with them as he was explaining what she did.

"She came into my room. She kept movin closer to me, and I kept scootin back. Until I ran into the wall. She kept repeatin, 'remember, this is our little secret, and nobody else needs to know.' I didn't know what she was goin to do. She touched me, and she made me touch her. I didn't know what was happenin. At one point I told her I didn't want to anymore, and she- she grabbed me, and told me I needed to behave. Then I remember her leavin before my parents got home, and I just stared at the door cryin. Waitin. I was scared."

"Did you tell your parents when they got home?"

"No. She told me it was our little secret."

"Thank you so much." The prosecutor said and sat down.

. . .

The trial continued through the rest of the day. When it got to the end of the day the jury had finally reached a verdict. Everyone took their seats in the courtroom. Nick was sitting between his dad and Catherine. His mom was reaching over to him, offering a hand to comfort him.

"Jury, how do you find the defendant on the charge of aggravated assault?"

"Not guilty."

"On the charge of sexual abuse?"

"Not guilty"

"On the charge of sexual assault?

"Guilty."

"And on the charge of molestation of a child?"

"We find the defendant, guilty."

Nick's father wrapped him in a hug, and Nick cried in his arms. "You did it Pancho. I'm so proud."

Just about everyone in the court was glad about the outcome. Catherine and Jillian both exchanged hugs with Nick as they were relieved the jury was able to see the truth.

A huge weight had been lifted off of Nick's shoulders, and he was feeling a lot more confident about the trial against Ben Thomas. The trial of Laura Alden had been in the back of Nick's mind for almost his entire life. He knew it was something he would eventually have to face, but never had. Now after the trial, he felt so much better. It was all over, all of it. He felt like he could finally breathe again.

After spending the rest of the night with his parents, they had to go back to Vegas for the next trial.

. . .

**Please let me know if you liked it or not, and if you have any suggestions I would love to hear them. There is not a whole lot more I can do with this story, but if there is something you want added, I'd be glad to try to do that.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter eighteen! So, I think this will be the last chapter, I know it's kind of short, but there's not too much more to do with this story so, I hope you enjoy it.**

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Nick and Catherine arrived back in Vegas, and they were met with the rest of the team, they all greeted them with hugs, and congratulated him on the guilty verdict. They drove Nick back to his house, and they all sat around and talked at his house. They all talked for a while, but they didn't bring up the trial, or anything of that subject. They wanted him to feel comfortable, and avoided certain topics. The support Nick felt from his team was incredible. His parents, his team, everyone had been a million times more supportive than he had ever expected. They were always there if he needed them.

Ben Thomas' trial came and went, and Nick testified once again, resulting in another guilty verdict. He took the following week off work, he objected several times, but Catherine insisted he needed some time. Nick saw a therapist one time, at Catherine's request, but he didn't feel the need to talk to him, and never returned.

Catherine was his therapist. He trusted her, and would often call her if he needed to talk, and she was always glad to help in any way she could. After talking the week off, he felt normal again. He finally felt like himself. After all these years, he was able to breathe knowing, Laura was finally where she belonged.

It was now a week later, and he was glad to finally get back to work.

* * *

Nick walked into the lab for the first time in a long time, and caught stares from all directions. Nick kept his eyes forward, and mind trained on what he needed to do. He was there to work, to help the victims, not talk about himself, or ask for their pity.

Catherine, Sara, and Greg knew he wouldn't want to talk about it, and never brought it up. They just sat back and wondered if he was okay or not. They wondered if he had ever really fully recovered, if he had thought about killing himself recently, if he had thought about the trial. Catherine felt more at peace after all the time she had spent talking to Nick. She knew where his head was at, and he was a lot better now. Catherine had filled them all in about what happened at the trial, or at least what she knew of. Catherine wasn't in the courtroom when Nick testified so, she never knew what happen in there. That was something Nick and his parents never spoke about to anyone.

Nick walked into the trace lab to pick up the results from the evidence he found at a crime scene.

"Hey... Nick, um. Hey." Hodges said. It was the first time Nick had been in Hodges' lab since Greg had sent him to get results, and Nick had become irritated, and he hadn't returned since.

"Just say it Hodges." Nick could read Hodges' thoughts, and him not saying anything, and acting extremely awkward around him was killing Nick.

"Nothing. Oh, you mean the results, yes, um I have the results. The um, here, here's the results." Hodges said, and quickly handed the paper over to Nick.

"What, no guessing game?" Nick asked with a smile. "You're making my job too easy."

"Oh, uh sorry. I forgot, I mean, I just didn't know, I didn't want..."

"Hodges. I'm kidding. Take it easy. Don't worry about me. I'm fine." Nick said, and left Hodges' lab. Hodges let out a breath he had been holding as soon as Nick left.

Nick started thinking of Hodges, and how he was wondering if he was okay. He realized the rest of his team was probably thinking the same, but they were able to hide it better. Hodges could never hide anything. Nick decided he would call a team meeting.

They all met in Catherine's office as Nick talked to Catherine, Sara, Greg, Brass, Hodges, Henry, Mandy, Archie, and Bobby. He thought they all needed to hear this.

"Thank y'all for comin. I just, I been thinkin I need to come clean with y'all. So, um, y'all know the trial took a lot out of me. And seein Laura again sent me to a really dark place. I tried to kill myself. I know it's not any big secret anymore, but I needed to say it. I couldn't see anythin. I couldn't see y'all trying to help me. I'm sorry if any of you felt offended, but thank you for not turnin away. Thanks to y'all, I am no longer in a dark place. You've helped me accept what has happen, and move on. Please don't worry about me anymore. I just wanted to say thank you for the continued support, it has really helped me get through all of this. I never could've done it without y'all. Thank you."

He went around the room, hugging all of them. Half of them were in tears, grateful, and relieved at what they were hearing. They were all glad it was finally over for good.

* * *

**Thank you so much for reading! Please let me know what you thought of this story, and check out some of my other stories! Thank you!**


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